News Nuggets 1351

DAYLEE PICTURE: Arches National Monument in Moab, Utah.  From the Smithsonian Magazine.

BELOW THE POLITICAL RADAR NUGGET!!
HHS to Darrell Issa: We Don’t Trust You from Politico
"The Health and Human Services Department told House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa that it won’t turn over documents related to the security of the Healthcare.gov website because it can’t trust him to keep secret information that could give hackers a roadmap to wreak havoc on the system."
Wow.  If that doesn't tell you how bad the politics is getting in DC!  It's one thing if some White House political operator (like Axelrod or Carney) would say something like this.  That's part of the game.  But in the executive agencies (where administering programs, not winning elections, usually dominates), you rarely see this kind of in-your-face candor in front of a congressional committee.  Yes, Rep. Issa, you and your staff leak classified info ... so why should we produce it?

Ukraine Leader 'Intends to Sign' EU Deal After Protests from FOX News 
"Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych "intends to sign" the far-reaching trade and cooperation agreement with the EU that he rejected only last month, the European Union's foreign policy chief said Thursday after talks with the embattled leader."
This could be a big deal.  When Yanukovych turned down this agreement, it was viewed as a big-time win for Russia's President Putin who has been trying to assert control over his "near abroad".  With this flip-flop, it could represent not only a major defeat for Putin but (more importantly) a critical reassertion of "people power" and of Ukraine's still fledgling democracy at a key turning point.  We shall see what happens next.

China’s Corruption Purge: The Fall of Zhou Yongkang (Wenguang Huang Ho Pin) from the Daily Beast
"As the world watches with interest the public arrest of Jang Song-thaek, the No. 2 political figure in North Korea, a more dramatic purge is unfolding in its neighboring China, North Korea’s big Communist brother.  New reports confirm that Zhou Yongkang, China’s third most powerful politician, is under investigation for murder, corruption, and plotting to overthrow the government. Inside the latest purge by President Xi to consolidate power."

Even by North Korean Standards, This Announcement of Jang Song Thaek’s Execution is Intense (Max Fisher) from the Washington Post
"Though North Korea has had many political purges, the highly public nature of this one has been unprecedented since Pyongyang first revealed it on Dec. 8, when state TV showed uniformed troops escorting Jang out of a Politburo meeting. The over-the-top language of this release, although awfully easy for outsiders to laugh at, is an important component of the purge -- and a potentially significant hint of what's happening there and why."

More Purges May Follow Execution Of Kim's Uncle from Talking Points Memo  
""If he has to go as high as purging and then executing Jang, it tells you that everything's not normal," said Victor Cha, a former senior White House adviser on Asia."

Obama Panel Said to Urge N.S.A. Curbs from the New York Times
" A presidential advisory committee charged with examining the operations of the National Security Agency has concluded that a program to collect data on every phone call made in the United States should continue, though under broad new restraints that would be intended to increase privacy protections, according to officials with knowledge of the report’s contents."

America’s Energy Boom has Been Great for Trade. Jobs, Not So Much (Neil Irwin) from the Washington Post
"...  the reasons for the smaller trade gap in October--and throughout 2013 to date--have everything to do with the U.S. energy production boom, which is increasing exports and lowering imports of petroleum products. If only that were better news for jobs. The numbers are stark."

Americans Won't Be Easily Reassured About the Economy (Charlie Cook) from the National Journal
"Conventional wisdom holds that if people see the economy improving, they will be less likely to "throw the bums out" in the next year's elections. But the key is public perception of the economy, not month-to-month shifts in numbers. ... My hunch is that those analysts predicting that the new economic numbers will prompt a change in the political dynamics of 2014 are getting a bit ahead of their skis."
There are times when I find Charlie Cook's analysis infuriating.  On the one hand, he is a pretty good observer of polling data and doesn't make wild flights of fancy based on it in his analysis.  ON THE OTHER HAND, he is such a beltway creature.  This column so showcases how isolated he (and most creatures of the beltway) are from the recession that the US is pulling out of.  For analysts like him, the historic downturn was an abstraction.  Why do I say this?  If you actually hang with average Americans outside the beltway, there would be no question that the "conventional wisdom" will probably not apply next year.  Many millions of our citizens have been life-alteringly burned by the recession
(particularly young people) and for most of them, the idea that "the recession is over" or that the economy is "on the upswing" is beltway bull***t and abstractions straight from the ivory tower.  I believe it has been the recession that has fueled the emergence of the Tea Party, a resurgence on the left, and the deep cynicism and despair one sees in (lo and behold) the polling data.  

Obama Replaces His Hill Lobbyist With a Senate Veteran (David Hawkings) from Politico
"President Barack Obama replaced his chief lobbyist on Capitol Hill today, concluding that his legislative affairs director for the past year had lost the confidence of too many congressional Democrats and made minimal inroads with the Republicans."
This firing looks more like the real deal, more like the house cleaning that Obama will need to do to right his ship!

GOP Struggle Widens As Boehner Rebukes Hard Right (Charles Babington) from the Associated Press via Talking Points Memo
"The Republican establishment's much-anticipated pushback against the tea party wing is underway. House Speaker John Boehner made that clear Thursday, when he renewed his denunciation of groups that try to defeat GOP incumbents they consider too willing to compromise with Democrats."

Why This Round of the Republican Civil War Was Different (Molly Ball) from the Atlantic
"The conservative pressure groups have power because of their threatened ability to oust lawmakers who don't meet their standard. But now Boehner, Ryan, and the rest of the Republican leaders have defied them, essentially calling their bluff. Can they really exact revenge on three-quarters of the House Republicans? Or will they have to accept that they’re not in charge anymore?"
Wrong question.  Yes, Heritage Action and those groups have influence -- but the real question is how Rush, Sean, and Glenn respond.  There will be some pretty intense fire coming from these folks.

After Revelation That Christie asked Cuomo to Back Off Bridge Lane Closure Inquiry, Top Aide Resigns (Jed Lewison) from Daily Kos
"One day after the Wall Street Journal reported that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had privately asked New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to back off an investigation into Bill Baroni, Christie's top appointee to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Baroni has resigned."
Yes, governor.  Welcome to the big leagues!  You can't get away with the same BS that flies (and has you win) in New Jersey.

The Christian Right Wants Civilization to Collapse (Amanda Marcotte) from Alternet via Salon
"... really, what all these fantasies of cities burning down and impending war and destruction are expressing is a belief that the culture of white conservative Christians is the culture of America. So it follows that if they aren’t the dominant class in the United States, then America isn’t, in their opinion, really America anymore. Once you key into this, understanding why certain social changes alarm the religious right becomes simple to see."

POLITICAL ANYONE-COULD-HAVE-SEEN-THIS-COMING VIDEO NUGGET!!
Must-see morning clip: Fox’s War on Christmas is officially insane from Salon
I'm sure there are days when Jon Stewart needs to work real hard to figure out what he will make fun of that evening.  Yesterday wasn't one of them.
""The Daily Show" blasts Megyn Kelly for insisting that Santa Claus has to be white."