December 17, 2025

Bye-Bye, Bongo. Glenn Thrush, et al., of the New York Times: “Dan Bongino, the No. 2 official at the F.B.I., said on Wednesday that he would step down next month, bringing an end to his brief but tumultuous stint at the bureau, where he was known for his volcanic temper, missteps and hyperactive presence on social media. 'I will be leaving my position with the FBI in January,' Mr. Bongino wrote on social media, shortly after ... [Donald] Trump appeared to confirm earlier news reports that Mr. Bongino planned to step down by mid-January.” The AP report is here. ~~~

~~~ Earlier That Same Day ~~~ 

~~~ Bada Bingo, Bada Bongo. Carol Leonnig & Ken Dilanian of MS NOW: “... FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino ... has quietly told confidants he plans to formally leave his job early in the new year and will not be returning to headquarters to work this month, according to eight people briefed on his account. Bongino told his team and some senior FBI officials that he tentatively planned to announce his departure on Dec. 19, according to four people. Several people said some of Bongino’s personal effects have been cleared out of his office as of last week.... When reached by MS NOW, Bongino declined to confirm or deny the reports of his plans, adding, 'Print whatever you’d like. No one believes you anyway. Thanks.'” 

Oklahoma. Hayden Alexander of OKC Fox: "The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that former Superintendent Ryan Walters and the Oklahoma State Board of Education (OSBE) violated the Open Meeting Act by approving new K-12 social studies standards promoting Christianity to public school students. The court found that Walters made last-minute changes to standards without notifying the public or providing notice to the other OSBE members, and the standards submitted were substantially different from the version released publicly." ~~~

     ~~~ If you find this story too boring, Robyn Pennacchia of Wonkette writes a more fun and interesting version that provides plenty of background on Ryan, an ever-so-opportunistic Christian nationalist. The bad news: the plaintiffs squeaked through with a 5-4 win. 

Hailey Fuchs of Politico: “Former special counsel Jack Smith, who led the federal criminal cases against ... Donald Trump..., is testifying in an hourslong, closed-door deposition with members of the House Judiciary Committee. In his opening statement to lawmakers, portions of which were obtained by Politico, Smith defended his findings of allegations that Trump mishandled classified documents and sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. 'The decision to bring charges against President Trump was mine, but the basis for those charges rests entirely with President Trump and his actions, as alleged in the indictments returned by grand juries in two different districts,' said Smith, according to a copy of portions of that statement. He maintained that this team found evidence to prove 'beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power.' Smith also said his team found 'powerful evidence' in the classified documents case and alleged that the president 'repeatedly tried to obstruct justice.'”

Meredith Hill of Politico: “Four House Republicans joined Democrats Wednesday to force a House vote on a straight three-year extension of the enhanced Obamacare tax credits that will expire Dec. 31, delivering a sharp rebuke to Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP leaders. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Mike Lawler of New York, Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania and Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania signed the discharge petition filed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — hours after House GOP leaders rejected attempts by Fitzpatrick and other Republican moderates to seek a floor vote on extending the subsidies used by more than 20 million Americans.” The AP's report is here.

Megan Mineiro of the New York Times: “The Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to a $900 billion defense policy bill, clearing legislation that advances the bulk of ... [Donald] Trump’s national security agenda and modernizes the way the U.S. military buys weapons and supplies, while also seeking to reassert congressional oversight of military operations. The 77-to-20 vote reflected bipartisan support in Congress to continue to spend robustly on defense, including on new submarines, fighter jets and drone technology. The bill also includes a pay raise of 3.8 percent for military personnel. While the Trump administration has made steep cuts to the federal government over the past year, the price tag on the bill was $8 billion above what the White House had requested for the Pentagon for the next year. Still, Mr. Trump is expected to sign the bill into law in the coming days.”  ~~~

     ~~~ Connor O'Brien of Politico: “The Senate on Wednesday delivered a clear rebuke of ... Donald Trump’s authority, signing off on legislation that could force the Pentagon to turn over footage of strikes against suspected drug smugglers and rein in the administration’s ability to limit troops abroad.” 

New York. Grace Ashford of the New York Times: “Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Wednesday that she would sign a bill that will allow terminally ill New Yorkers to end their lives, using unusually personal language as she settled an emotional, decade-long battle between religious leaders and right-to-die advocates. The law will apply to adults who have incurable, irreversible illnesses and six months or less to live, and each patient will need the sign-off of three doctors. Eleven states, the District of Columbia and several countries in Europe have passed similar laws over the objections of some disability-rights advocates and religious organizations, most notably the Catholic Church.... But Ms. Hochul, who is Catholic, said she had made what she described as the “difficult decision” to support the measure in part because of her faith. She wrote in an essay published Wednesday morning in the Albany Times Union that she had listened to people suffering through the agony of a slow death, and that their painful experiences mirrored her own observations of a beloved family member.”

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Edward Wong, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Tuesday ordered a 'complete blockade' on sanctioned oil tankers going to and from Venezuela, an escalation of his administration’s monthslong pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro, the leader of Venezuela. 'Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,' Mr. Trump wrote on social media. 'It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before.' The move could hobble Venezuela’s oil exports, which are the lifeblood of the country’s economy. Venezuela relies entirely on tankers to export its oil to world markets. There were more than 30 vessels operating in Venezuela earlier this month that had been sanctioned by the United States.... 

“Mr. Trump appeared to be threatening to enforce existing sanctions against some of the tankers exporting oil. If the U.S. Navy continues to allow most vessels to freely enter and leave Venezuelan ports, it is not a real blockade.... Mr. Trump also wrote that the U.S. operation would continue until Venezuela returned to the United States 'all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.' Mr. Trump did not define what he meant by those assets.... In his announcement on Wednesday, Mr. Trump said the Venezuelan government had been designated a foreign terrorist organization.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: When is a "complete blockade" not a "blockade"? When Trump says it's a "complete blockade." Trump has known for a few days that the Susie Wiles interviews would be published yesterday. He's known for almost a month that his DOJ will likely release something from the Epstein files this Friday: the deadline set by legislation he signed. So it's hardly ridiculous to suspect that the seizure of a tanker last week and this "complete blockade" are designed as distractions from his personal problems. In case you think that is ridiculous, I remind you that Wiles herself said that Trump operates with 'a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing.' Since he's also a narcissist who thinks he is the state, he would see nothing wrong in using the military and other branches to cover up his own embarrassments and peccadillos. ~~~

~~~ Heather Cox Richardson on this escalation of hostilities against Venezuela and other Trumpian horrors. Richardson pulls together Trump's phony war on drug cartels and Susie Wiles' more credible assertion that Trump would continue blowing up small boats till Maduro relinquished power (MB: in some kind of arrangement in which the U.S. could acquire Venezuela's oil reserves).

No Blacks Need Apply. Tyler Pager & Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Tuesday expanded travel restrictions to include 20 more countries, just weeks after he promised to do so when authorities arrested an Afghan national in the shooting of two National Guard troops in Washington. The revised policy, which takes effect on Jan. 1, fully blocks travel for individuals from five additional countries — Syria, South Sudan, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso — and also for people with documents issued by the Palestinian Authority. The Trump administration also added partial travel restrictions for individuals from 15 additional countries, predominantly in Africa. With the expansion, there are now more than 35 countries with U.S. travel restrictions. Mr. Trump first instituted a travel ban on 12 countries, including Afghanistan, in June and vowed after the shooting last month to  'permanently pause migration from all third world countries.'

“The partial travel restrictions apply to people from Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Ivory Coast, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The new policy also applies to spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens as well as to Afghan Special Immigrant visas, which were set up for people who had helped the U.S. military and government during the war in Afghanistan. The policy also bars siblings and adult children of U.S. citizens as well as international students.” The AP's story is here.

Josh Gerstein of Politico: “A federal judge on Tuesday turned down preservationists’ request to halt ... Donald Trump’s $300 million White House ballroom project, concluding that allowing below-ground construction to continue in the coming weeks was unlikely to produce irreparable harm to those opposed to the plan. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon denied the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s request for a temporary restraining order, but said he would hear arguments early next year about whether to issue a longer-term preliminary injunction against the project. Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, also said the Trump administration must follow through on a pledge to submit the project to the National Capital Planning Commission by the end of this year.... Leon issued the ruling after accepting a classified filing from the government detailing national security concerns about stopping the project. The submission was not made public, but it is publicly known that for decades the Presidential Emergency Operations Center was located beneath the now-demolished East Wing.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Okay, that explains the national security rationale I found so ridiculous yesterday. I stand corrected.  

                       Photo by Christopher Anderson for Vanity Fair. 

~~~ Marie: Let's hope this is at least a two-day story. My congratulations to Chris Whipple. ~~~

~~~ ⭐Peter Baker of the New York Times: Donald “Trump’s chief of staff [Susie Wiles] said she tried to get him to end his 'score settling' against political enemies after 90 days in office, but acknowledged that the administration’s still ongoing push for prosecutions has been fueled in part by the president’s desire for retribution.... While she insisted that Mr. Trump is not constantly thinking about retribution, she said that 'when there’s an opportunity, he will go for it.' Ms. Wiles made the comments in a series of extraordinarily unguarded interviews over the first year of Mr. Trump’s second term with the author Chris Whipple that are being published Tuesday by Vanity Fair.... She also acknowledged that [Mr. Trump] was not telling the truth when he accused former President Bill Clinton of visiting the private island of the sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein. Over the course of 11 interviews, Ms. Wiles offered pungent assessments of the president and his team: Mr. Trump “has an alcoholic’s personality.” Vice President JD Vance has 'been a conspiracy theorist for a decade' and his conversion from Trump critic to ally was based not on principle but was 'sort of political' because he was running for Senate. Elon Musk is 'an avowed ketamine' user and 'an odd, odd duck,' whose actions were not always 'rational' and left her 'aghast.' Russell T. Vought, the budget director, is 'a right-wing absolute zealot.' And Attorney General Pam Bondi 'completely whiffed' in handling the Epstein files.” The link appears to be a gift link. You will likely want to read on. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Here are Baker's five main takeaways from the Wiles interviews. Bill Barrow of the AP lists his takeaways. ~~~

     ~~~ ⭐Part 1 of Chris Whipple's Vanity Fair article is here. At the bottom is a link to Part 2. MB: I was able to access Part 1, but not Part 2. Evidently I've used up my Vanity Fair freebies. I think I did access one other Vanity Fair story this month, so if you did not, you may be good to go. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Most people would get fired for such a tell-all. Wiles either thinks she's immune or wants to get out. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Paul Campos in LG&$: "(My guess is she’s heading out the door, and decided to first play the I Tried To Stop The Excesses card, on the off chance anybody is ever held accountable for any of this at some point in the future). This is like Stupid Watergate, but instead of having to subpoena tapes all the way up to the SCOTUS, you just have to clink on the link." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Darlene Superville & Bill Barrow of the AP: “After the story was published, Wiles disparaged it as a 'disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history.... Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story,' she wrote in a social media post. 'I assume, after reading it, that this was done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and our team.' Wiles did not deny the comments that were attributed to her.... Press secretary Karoline Leavitt also rose to Wiles’ defense, writing on the X platform that, 'President Trump has no greater or more loyal advisor than Susie. The entire Administration is grateful for her steady leadership and united fully behind her.'” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

The Internets are enjoying this close-up of Karoline Leavitt that appeared in Part 2 of the article. There are comments on her large pores and excessive wrinkles around her eyes, suggesting she is 28 going on 60. And the pay special attention to what look like Botox needle marks on her upper lips. ~~~

~~~ Ariana Baio of the Independent: "The striking photos [of administration figures] depict every freckle, line, strand of hair and makeup smudge on White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller, Director of Presidential Personnel Office Dan Scavino, and Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative, Political and Public Affairs James Blair.... For photographer Christopher Anderson, the images are consistent with his style of close-up portraiture. Anderson is an award-winning photographer who has contributed to the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, Esquire, and the Wall Street Journal."  

     ~~~ Tyler Pager of the New York Times: Donald “Trump and his top aides rushed to publicly defend Susie Wiles, his chief of staff, on Tuesday after a magazine published a series of candid interviews with her, in which she made critical comments about some of the president’s top aides and opened up about disagreements she has had with Mr. Trump.... In the hours after the article was published, more than a dozen members of his cabinet posted defenses of Ms. Wiles on their social media accounts.” An MS NOW story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Steven Nelson & Samuel Chamberlain of the New York Post: Donald “Trump defended White House chief of staff Susie Wiles in an exclusive interview with The Post Tuesday — saying she was right to tell Vanity Fair he has an 'alcoholic’s personality' and that he has confidence in Wiles to continue in her role. In an afternoon phone call, Trump said that he wasn’t offended by his subordinate’s word choice. 'No, she meant that I’m — you see, I don’t drink alcohol. So everybody knows that — but I’ve often said that if I did, I’d have a very good chance of being an alcoholic. I have said that many times about myself, I do. It’s a very possessive personality,' Trump said, a teetotaler who has frequently cited the 1981 death of his older brother Fred at age 42 of an alcohol-induced heart attack as the main impetus for his abstinence.” ~~~

     ~~~ BUT. Sophia Cai, et al., of Politico: “Most of [Wiles'] critiques were batted away as 'inside jokes' or part of a 'hit piece' from the media but privately those inside the White House and others close to the president were aghast that the West Wing so fully cooperated with the story.... The more than 10,000-word Vanity Fair spread, based on 11 interviews over the course of a year, glossy photo-spreads and on-the-record quotes from Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had many of Trump’s allies scratching their heads, wondering why the very top of the administration would participate in the interview. And how could Wiles, lauded for her political acumen and loyalty, have miscalculated so badly? The interview was 'extremely demoralizing,' said a person close to the White House.... The piece lands as the Trump administration grapples with a host of bad headlines....” ~~~

~~~ AND. MAGA Gripes about Interviews, Lame Defenses. Charlie Nash of Mediaite: “White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles received backlash from supporters of ... Donald Trump on Tuesday after her decision to speak to Vanity Fair led to a series of disastrous headlines for the Trump administration.... Mike Cernovich criticized Wiles for 'doing glam interviews with Bolshevik media' and likened her willing participation to 'hanging yourself with your own words,' while Fox News contributor Byron York called Wiles’ defense 'perhaps one of the most naive statements ever made by an official at the highest levels of the government.'” More where those come from. ~~~

~~~ Contributor Jeanne recommends listening to Lawrence O'Donnell's opening segment last night. Good advice: ~~~ 

⭐~~~ Conservative Bret Stephens of the New York Times: “Though I tend to think it’s usually a waste of space to devote a column to ... [Donald] Trump’s personality — what more is there to say about the character of this petty, hollow, squalid, overstuffed man? — sometimes the point bears stressing: We are led by the most loathsome human being ever to occupy the White House.... I quote Trump’s post [on the deaths of Rob & Michele Reiner] in full not only because it must be read to be believed, but also because it captures the combination of preposterous grandiosity, obsessive self-regard and gratuitous spite that 'deranged'  the Reiners and so many other Americans trying to hold on to a sense of national decency. Good people and good nations do not stomp on the grief of others. Politics is meant to end at the graveside....

“Right now, in every grotesque social media post; in every cabinet meeting devoted, North Korea-like, to adulating him; in every executive-order-signing ceremony intended to make him appear like a Chinese emperor; in every fawning reference to all the peace he’s supposedly brought the world; in every Neronic enlargement of the White House’s East Wing; in every classless dig at his predecessor; in every shady deal his family is striking to enrich itself; in every White House gathering of tech billionaires paying him court (in the literal senses of both 'pay' and 'court'); in every visiting foreign leader who learns to abase himself to avoid some capricious tariff or other punishment — in all this and more, our standards as a nation are being debased, our manners barbarized.”

From a New York Times liveblog. Robert Jimison & Megan Mineiro: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined on Tuesday to show members of Congress the unedited video of a boat attack in September that included a second strike to kill survivors, amid bipartisan pressure for more transparency around the U.S. military’s operations in international waters. Mr. Hegseth, who along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered separate classified briefings for all members of the House and Senate, said officials planned to share the video of the Sept. 2 strike with members of the congressional national security committees, but not more broadly. 'Of course, we’re not going to release a top-secret, full unedited video of that to the general public,' Mr. Hegseth said after the meeting with senators, which was held in the secure briefing room designed to handle top-secret intelligence.... Senator Chuck Schumer ... was among the lawmakers who saw the unedited footage; he said he had asked Mr. Hegseth to allow all lawmakers to see it. 'He said he’d think about it,' Mr. Schumer said on Tuesday. He added that instead, Mr. Hegseth and Mr. Rubio, who is the acting national security adviser, 'came to this briefing empty-handed.... Every senator is entitled to see it.'” The Hill's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Evan Hurst of Wonkette: "... unless [Hegseth] has a very real fear that having that evidence on this video might be the thing that gets him sent to The Hague, or possibly prosecuted for straight-up murder. (Probably related: The Trump administration is threatening to sanction the International Criminal Court if the ICC doesn’t promise it won’t prosecute Trump regime people for all their crimes against humanity.) Senator Chris Coons noted yesterday that they literally already are releasing every other video. “It is hard to square the widespread, routine, prompt posting of detailed videos of every strike, with a concern that posting a portion of the video of the first strike would violate a variety of classification concerns.” Yeeeeeah."

Swastikas & Nooses? Kinda Okay. Tara Copp & Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post: “The U.S. Coast Guard has allowed a new workplace harassment policy to take effect that downgrades the definition of swastikas and nooses from overt hate symbols to 'potentially divisive' despite an uproar over the new language that forced the service’s top officer to direct that both would remain prohibited. The new policy went into effect Monday, according to written correspondence that the Coast Guard provided to Congress this week, a copy of which was reviewed by The Washington Post. The manual is posted online and makes clear that its previous version 'is cancelled.'” MB: I've gone with the 500-character URL in case it's a gift link; can somebody please test this & let me know the results? ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Okay, I get the nooses, because showing minimal respect for Black people is just not something the Trump administration will do. But the swastikas? What about all the millions of dollars the Trumpies have collected and/or withheld from universities they accused of permitting antisemitism on campus? Could it be that whole campaign against antisemitism was insincere? 

Ruby Mellen of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration said it was breaking up one of the world’s preeminent earth and atmospheric research institutions Tuesday over concerns about 'climate alarmism' — a move some Democratic state officials and scientists called an assault on science and education[, Budget Director and 'right-wing absolute zealot' Russell Vought announced on X].... The NCAR laboratory in Boulder was founded in 1960 at the base of the Rocky Mountains to conduct research and educate future scientists. Its resources include supercomputers, valuable datasets and high-tech research planes.” 

Huh. Jo Kent & Kiki Intarasuwan of CBS News: "Affinity Partners, the private equity firm founded by [Donald] Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, said Tuesday that it has dropped out of Paramount Skydance's $108.4 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. The exit ... came a week after Paramount Skydance made the all-cash bid to Warner Bros. Discovery, just days after Netflix had agreed to buy a part of Warner Bros. in a deal valued at $82.7 billion.... In addition to Affinity, Paramount Skydance's bid had other outside financing partners, according to a Paramount Skydance regulatory filing, including Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and Qatar Investment Authority. Affinity's role in the Paramount offer generated some criticism over the firm's connection to Mr. Trump, and some Democratic lawmakers expressed concerns over foreign money in America's largest media companies." ~~~

     ~~~ Oh. Sara Fischer of Axios: "The news comes ahead of an expected announcement from the Warner Bros. board that it plans to reject Paramount's latest $30-a-share all-cash offer for the company. One of the main concerns the Warner Bros. board had with Paramount's original offer was whether it could close a deal if one of its seven funding partners (aside from RedBird Capital) backed out at the last minute."

Michael Gold & Carl Hulse of the New York Times: “Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday shut the door on a vote to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year, bucking moderates in his party who had urged action to prevent millions of Americans from facing higher health care costs starting Jan. 1. Though Mr. Johnson had signaled openness to allowing debate on the proposal, he ultimately rejected a bid to do so.... Instead, the House is set on Wednesday to consider a narrow G.O.P. health care plan that would allow Obamacare subsidies beefed up during the pandemic to expire and make several small changes aimed at bringing down costs over the long term. The speaker’s decision came after a day of waffling that reflected the deep disarray in G.O.P. ranks over how to address rising health care costs, an issue that Democrats have promised to make a centerpiece of their midterm election campaigns.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In the meantime, there are still a couple of GOP-sponsored discharge petitions floating around: ~~~

     ~~~ Meredith Hill & Benjamin Guggenheim of Politico: “Vulnerable Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick told Speaker Mike Johnson on the House floor Tuesday he would not withdraw his discharge petition that would force a floor vote on extending expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies — amid Johnson’s attempt to find a potential agreement to allow a vote on an amendment instead that would be similar in substance.... Fitzpatrick and Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.), in private conversations with Johnson and other Republicans, have both so far declined to turn off their respective discharge petitions in the absence of an agreement they can vote on this week alongside the GOP health care bill.”

John Dowd in an MS NOW opinion piece: "Former special counsel Jack Smith is scheduled to appear on Wednesday for a closed-door interview with the House Judiciary Committee, despite his request to testify in an open and public hearing. In my opinion, Republicans are depriving the American people of the opportunity to hear from a career prosecutor who investigated serious allegations that ... Donald Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election and unlawfully retained classified documents.... In all of my interactions with him, Smith demonstrated that he was a straight shooter, open-minded and a man of integrity.... Recent attacks on Smith are motivated by partisan politics, and they are untethered to the facts or the law." MS NOW: "John Dowd has practiced law for nearly 60 years. He served in the administrations of Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. He was ... Donald Trump's personal lawyer during the special counsel investigation into Russian collusion during the 2016 election."

... After the Horse Has Bolted. Arden Farhi of CBS News: "Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland plans to introduce legislation Tuesday that would subject White House renovations like ... [Donald] Trump's ballroom project to the same reviews as other federal projects. Currently, the White House is exempt from certain oversight under the National Historic Preservation Act. Raskin's bill ... would require White House renovations to undergo a so-called 'Section 106 review,' a pre-ground breaking assessment that addresses the impact of renovations on historic buildings and allows the public to weigh in." (Also linked yesterday.)

"Nuzzi Pox." Jason Sattler of the Farce: Sattler reposts a skeet from Judd Legum, which reminds us that more than 100 South Carolinians have been infected with measles and hundreds more are in quarantine. "In response," Legum writes, "RFK Jr., the nation's top public health official, has been SILENT[.] But it's much worse than that. RFK Jr. and his allies are undermining confidence in the vaccine." Sattler: Legum's post "caused me to muse, 'More Americans got measles this week than Olivia Nuzzi’s book. Guess which got more press coverage.'" Sattler discovered that he may have exaggerated (though it's impossible to tell because RFKJ's CDC has fallen down on the reporting). But he did find there had been more measles outbreaks this year than there had been sales of Nuzzi's account of her affair with Measles Bob. Thanks to RAS for the link.

More Trouble at Heritage. David Fahrenthold of the New York Times: “Two members of the Heritage Foundation’s governing board resigned on Tuesday, in a sign of deepening turmoil at the conservative think tank after its president, Kevin D. Roberts, took the side of the conservative podcast host Tucker Carlson during a controversy over his friendly interview with an antisemite. The members, Abby Spencer Moffat and Shane McCullar, announced their resignations in a statement sent to The New York Times. Another member of the group’s board, Robert P. George, a professor at Princeton University, resigned last month. Ms. Spencer Moffat’s resignation is especially notable because she is chief executive of the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, one of the Heritage Foundation’s major donors.”

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "Nonfarm payrolls grew slightly more than expected in November but slumped in October while unemployment hit its highest in four years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday in numbers delayed by the government shutdown. Job growth totaled a seasonally adjusted 64,000 for the month, better than the Dow Jones estimate of 45,000 and up from a sharp decline in October. The unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, more than expected and its highest level since September 2021. A more encompassing measure that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time jobs for economic reasons swelled to 8.7%, its peak going back to August 2021." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Tony Romm of the New York Times: “The White House on Tuesday sought to recast a dour November jobs report as a sign of economic progress, shrugging off an uptick in the nation’s unemployment rate and other potential hints of weakness now looming over the economy. Top aides to ... [Donald] Trump instead argued that the data showed a nation still on track, and poised to grow substantially next year, as they forged ahead with their new campaign to assuage voters anxious about their finances. 'THE BEST IS YET TO COME!' the White House posted on social media.” The link appears to be a gift link. ~~~

~~~ Paul Krugman: “When Politico recently asked Donald Trump to grade the current U.S. economy, he replied 'A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus.' He made this boast at a time when actual economic data were still scarce, a consequence of the government shutdown that stopped or delayed key information about the state of the job market. Yesterday the report on employment during the month of November finally arrived. And the message of the report on the state of the US economy was clear: A+++++ my A++. While it’s too soon to declare that we’re in a recession, the data are at least pre-recessionary: that is, the numbers are weak enough that we should be seriously worried that a recession is coming. And that’s a state of affairs completely at odds with Trump’s rose-colored — spray-tanned? — picture.”

Here's the New York Times liveblog of developments in the investigation of the murders of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner. 

Stephen King, in a New York Times op-ed, reflects on his association with Rob Reiner, particularly on Reiner's "Stand by Me," a film based on King's semi-autobiographical novella called The Body. 

The Importance of Being MAGA. Gary Leff of View from the Wing: “A pro‑Trump passenger bragged online that he was going to be flying first class, claiming he could afford it 'because of Trump / Trump made America great again.” He posted an image of his boarding pass.... You know how this ended. In a divided America, the world saw his record locator and name and accessed the reservation. 'Someone had canceled his flight.' Many airlines 'Manage My Booking' flows are authenticated with just confirmation number and last name. If someone posts a boarding pass, the world has both and can cancel or change the itinerary.” Thanks to RAS for the link.

~~~ Shannon Osaka & Naema Ahmed of the Washington Post: “Plastic ushered in a new era of convenience and filled homes with cheap, disposable goods. But it also has exposed ordinary people to tens of thousands of chemicals that slip out of those items into household dust, food, water — and from there, into bodies. Some of these chemicals are known to disrupt pregnancies, triggering birth defects and fertility problems later in life; others have been linked to cancer and developmental problems....  Researchers believe that many of these chemicals are harming Americans even at typical levels of exposure. Here’s how some of the most dangerous chemicals go from everyday items in our kitchens into our bodies.” The link is a gift link.

Adam Nossiter of the New York Times: “Ruth Kiew, a British-born, Cambridge-trained botanist who walked through remote tropical forests and climbed steep cliffs in her adopted country of Malaysia to discover and name scores of rare plant species, died on Nov. 20 in Kuala Lumpur, the capital. She was 79. Her death, in a hospital, from cancer, was confirmed in a Facebook post by the Forest Research Institute Malaysia, where she was a research fellow. Dr. Kiew was the rare botanist who trekked where few others would, scouring the underbrush for humble but rare plants, particularly begonias, and meticulously recording them.”

Joseph Berger of the New York Times: “Norman Podhoretz, the longtime editor of Commentary magazine and a lion of neoconservatism, whose intellectual odyssey took him from embracing the left to condemning a world order that in his eyes had become spineless in the face of Soviet expansionism and, later, Islamist militancy, died in Manhattan on Tuesday. He was 95.”

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Massachusetts. Michael Levenson of the New York Times: “The authorities said on Tuesday that they had opened a homicide investigation after a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was fatally shot at his home in Brookline, Mass. The professor, Nuno F.G. Loureiro, 47, was a member of the departments of nuclear science and engineering and physics, as well as the director of M.I.T.’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, the school said. The Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office said the police responded on Monday night after receiving a report of a man shot at his home. The office said that Dr. Loureiro was brought to a hospital with gunshot wounds, and that he was pronounced dead on Tuesday morning.”

Rhode Island. Jacey Fortin & Mitch Smith of the New York Times: “More than three days after a fatal shooting at Brown University, officials in Rhode Island released additional video of the man they believe carried out the deadly attack. But they appeared no closer to determining the killer’s name, motive or whereabouts.... The new video shared by law enforcement agencies included a timeline of a man in a dark coat and face mask circulating in neighborhoods close to campus. His face remained covered in all of the images, making him difficult to identify. 'Focus on the body movements, the way the person moved their arms, the body posture, the way they carry the weight,' Col. Oscar Perez, chief of the Providence, R.I., police department, said.” The new footage appears in the NYT article, and on the Times Website's front page.

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Australia. Victoria Kim & Yan Zhuang of the New York Times: “The surviving suspect in the mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, was charged on Wednesday with murder, terrorism and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to murder, the police said. The shooting at a beachside Hanukkah celebration on Sunday left 15 people dead, including a 10-year-old girl and a Holocaust survivor.... Two gunmen, who the police said were father and son, were shot by officers; one died at the scene, and the other was taken to a hospital. The authorities said the men appeared to have been motivated by Islamic State-inspired antisemitism. The younger suspect, 24, had been in a coma until Tuesday afternoon, according to Mal Lanyon, the police commissioner for the state of New South Wales. The suspect remains hospitalized under police guard, according to the police.”