#alas james and elaine you had this coming to you

[socially-awkward-skeleton]

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With the new chapter of American Beasts posted this week I haven't got anything worthwhile there to share, so have some more from Kit's Herald/Role Swap AU Kakia (warnings: for guns, violence, and straight up patricide):

There were countless times she’d pictured doing this, hurting her parents the way they’d hurt her, vengeance for how she was raised. A father’s brutal lack of love. Overbearing and cold. He treated her as no more than an offshoot of himself, just an added limb to his legacy, his memory. Nothing was ever for her, it was all for him. Selfish, conceited and controlling. Her mother’s feigned sympathy, coddling a scared and angry dog, only to try and dress it up for her own amusement. The party trick kept around to amuse the guests, no better than a piece of art on the wall, something her mother could briefly point at to draw attention to it before turning away from her as she always did. 

Boots thundered on shining wood floors, polished to the point you could see your own reflection, clean enough to eat off of and God only knew with the money they were flashing it certainly wasn’t her mother on her hands and knees doing it anymore. Kit’s hand tensed around the grip of her gun, as she passed by the farmhouse style Live, Laugh, Love sign complete with scuffed chalk paint and tarnished metal corners. It was revolting. A mask slapped on top of the horrors that hid underneath, no better than sticking duct tape over a hole punched in a wall. 

“Yes, do it. They deserve it.” The whisper in her head was the only accomplice she needed. “Quiet, quiet. No one will hear you. You’re almost free.”

She turned the corner down the hall and made her way to her father first. The root of all her evils. He broke her, ruined every chance she had at a life of her own. But with his death she’d find her release. No longer bound to him, cutting the cord that had held her to him since birth. 

The door to his office had been shut tight – just as it always was while she was growing up – not to be disturbed. But his law of the land no longer stood with her. The door swung open, the lock clicking open of its own will, and with her gun at the ready, Kit stood in the doorway.

He barely had the time to look up from his monitor to see her. His eyes (ones that had filled her with so much guilt and shame) were spared only a moment to grow wide before a hole was made between them. The blast caused his head to snap back against the headrest, his mouth gaping open in stunned surprise as deep purple blood oozed down from the wound. With no life left in James, he slumped over, his head hitting the keyboard below, the weight of his cheek and forehead causing the keys to clack loudly in response. It was a quicker death than he deserved, but at least he left the world knowing just how excellent a weapon he had made. Quick, clean, efficient.

Unstoppable. 

“Excellent. We’re almost there.” The Voice slithered in her ear, a forked tongue lapping at her lobe. 

Storming the kitchen, her mother had already raced to the security unit by the back door with the sound of the gunshot, but she’d soon find she was as alone as Kit had felt for all those years with no one to turn to, no compassionate ear to listen to her problems, to take her away from the hell of another’s making. Elaine could press the alarm call button over and over and it would serve as much purpose as the cooing she would do over her daughter when she was worn down and told she was some monstrous thing, when she was told God was watching her and that He knew what she was thinking at all times, and that she needed to shape up. 

Seeing the red specter of death that was her daughter enter the room caused Elaine’s heart to race, stumbling backwards into the kitchen island. “Kitty, what’re - what’re you doing here?” Her mother’s eyes glanced around the kitchen, looking for something, anything, to defend herself with, but to no avail. 

Pale eyes tracked her every movement, the same way she’d been trained to. Keeping herself three steps ahead of her mother at all times. Kit lifted her gun, aiming it at her mother’s chest. 

Elaine’s attention turned to the hall her daughter had come from. “You - your father - why? Why are you doing this?”

Kit’s cold, emotionless face slipped into a deep scowl. Teeth bared, she became more animal than human. Her lungs forcing out each anguished breath she’d kept locked up in the cage of her chest for so long. “You’re fucking kidding me, aren’t you?” she rasped. 

“Is this because of the explosion? Some sort of PTSD? We can get you help, Kitty. I can help you.” Elaine opened her arms wide as if to accept her daughter, to embrace the burden of her own bosom.

The anger cracked, a smile pulled at her lips and a laugh trembled out of her. “You, help me? When have you ever done that?”

Watery eyes looking back at her would do nothing to dissuade Kit from her mission, and it was clear that her mother knew it all the same as she crumpled down to the floor, resting up against the kitchen cabinets in fetal position waiting out her inevitable demise, shaking like a lost lamb. 

Every thought she’d ever had about her mother came true in that moment, proof positive she’d been right all along. She was weak. Pathetic. A burden beset upon the world, and Kit was doing her and the rest of mankind a favor, ridding them all of Elaine Cross. 

Sobbing as the cold metal bite of the muzzle of her daughter’s gun was pressed to the top of her head, eyes the color of forget-me-nots stared up at Kit, pleading desperately with her through streams of tears and snot. “Please…what did I ever do to deserve this?”

The empty stare Elaine was met with befit the shell it belonged to. Icy eyes with a darkness to them so deep it was practically bottomless. A machine of her husband’s making, a monster made flesh from within her own rancid womb. A daughter of Cain completing her reflexive duty, something born and bred with a killer instinct. 

“Ask God.”

[msclaritea]

A very important history lesson and why we have to fight back this time.

A lot of people saw the White Tears Death March at Michigan's capitol & said: "If black people did that..."

"Some mentioned Reagan's gun control law after '67 Panthers protest But there are many historical examples of white people freaking out when blacks protested.

(A thread) 

After the Not-So-Civil War, this happened ALL THE TIME.

Remember, the states that got their asses kicked were not automatically allowed back into the Union. Southern white supremacists were so scared when blacks exercised their new right to vote that they started a race war. 

In 1866, La. reconvened its Constitutional Convention because Democrats were trying to stop blacks from voting. (This was before conservative Southern "states rights" advocates switched became Republican. We'll get to that)

Of course, black people marched (but not like that). 

When the black people showed up, a group of white supremacists (Y'all call them "Confederates now — same thing) was waiting on them and opened fire.

To be fair, the black ppl weren't actually protesting, per se when the racists opened fire. They were doing something much worse: 

They were dancing and playing music.

Y'all, those racist bastards opened fire on a MARCHING BAND.

Then this happened:

Partly because of the New Orleans Massacre, Congress passed the First Reconstruction Act. Black Louisianans were guaranteed the right to vote but the act did something else that would make the racists even madder.

It took away the right to vote for any ex-Confederate. 

If you think this was bad, Georgia was even worse.

Ga. holds the distinction of being the only state that was so racist that we had to kick the ENTIRE STATE out of America.

Seriously, that happened. And it was partly because of the Camilla Massacre. 

First, you gotta remember that blacks damn near outnumbered whites in Georgia. So, after they got the right to vote, 33 black ppl were elected to the state legislature.

Wypipo wasn't having that shit.

So the white legislators called their homeboys up (Y'all call them the KKK) 

The KKK ran the DULY ELECTED "Original 33" out of office.

Then the Ga. Supreme Court ruled that black people were technically citizens, but the Ga. laws were only meant for white people, so... Black ppl, y'all need to go somewhere with that "equality" shit.*

*I'm paraphrasing

A week after they ousted the Original 33, one of the (did I mentioned DULY ELECTED) legislators organized 200-300 blacks & marched from Albany to Camilla to hold a rally in the town square

When they got to Mitchell County, whites waiting in storefronts and on roofs, opened fire 

The Camilla Massacre got Georgia kicked BACK OUT of the Union and the state had to be readmitted for a second time in 1870 after it seated SOME of the Original 33.

Why not all?

Well, 1/4 of the Original 33 were murdered or attacked. 

On October 25, 1870, 2,000 black people gathered at a rally in Eutaw, Ala. right before the Nov. election. The crowd wanted to prove they weren't of white racists.

Why would they be scared?

Well, in March, 30 masked white men had lynched James Martin, a black Republican. 

It happened again in July, but they didn't just kill Gillford Coleman, they cut his body up into pieces. The racists were afraid Eutaw Co. blacks would help elect a Republican Gov. liked they helped Grant win the county by 2000 votes the 1868 election, 

Klansman rode into town and opened fire on adults and children and promised to do it again if Black people voted.

The tactic worked.

Instead of Republicans winning, the county by 2000 votes, the Democrat Governor won by 43 votes. 

That was lame compared to the Battle of Liberty Place.

Remember when this whole "Confederate Statue" thing first started a couple of years ago? It was partly about a monument to the Battle of Liberty Place, when a whole white supremacist army overthrew the Louisiana gvt. 



In 18 months a white supremacist ARMY called the "white league" (racists are notoriously bad for coming up with nicknames) killed hundreds of Black voters in Colfax, New Orleans, Coushatta & Opelousas

This is what led to the passage of the 2nd Ku Klux Klan Act 

(Side note: The Colfax Massacre also resulted in a Supreme Court Case, which was the first time the Supreme Court said the Second Amendment guaranteed individual citizens the right to own guns)

A lot of Black folks weren't having this shit. So they formed their own armies. 

In SC, the KKK and other Dollar Tree brand racist groups were killing Blacks in the lead up to the 1876 election. In Ellenton, over 100 black voters were murdered.

But it wasn't just about politics. White people HATED when blacks told them what to do. 

You gotta remember, most southern whites were Confederates, so during Reconstruction military occupation, a lot of the soldiers were black.

On July 4, 1876, in Hamburg, the town next to Ellenton, SC, a group of black national guardsmen were drilling while black people watched 

A group of these Dollar Tree white soldiers called the "Red Shirts" came through trying to flex and the Black Guardsmen told them to wait to pass until they finished.

Yall know those former whip crackers weren't having that. 

A white judge told the Red Shirts that they could take the black NATIONAL GUARDSMEN's guns, they found the black militia and began opening fire.

94 white men were indicted.

0 were convicted

The leader of the Hamburg Massacre?

He went on to serve 24 years in the US Senate 

Again, it wasn't just about stopping black people from voting.

In 1887, 10,000 black workers went on strike and started forming a union on La sugar plantations.

So the plantation owners hired the KKK to come in and kill the organizers. Then, it became any black person. 

No one knows how many were killed but the official number is "enough"

Louisiana sugar plantations wouldn't organize again for another 50 years. 

On July 3, 1919, a group of black Buffalo Soldiers went to Bisbee, Ari. Now, this may have been before cookouts were invented, because the soldiers had planned to march in the parade the next day. 

Bisbee's white sheriff told the black soldiers that they couldn't walk around with their guns. When the police officers tried to disarm the Buffalo Soldiers, the refused. So they deputized all the white men in town to disarm the negroes 

The soldiers were like: "Fuck y'all lil' parade, then," and were preparing to leave when one of the deputies was like: "You can't talk to a white man like that."

He opened fire.

The other deputies did, too. 

An investigation would later reveal that it was planned.

The Sherriff and others "had planned deliberately to aggravate the negro troopers so that they would furnish an excuse for police and deputy sheriffs to shoot them down."

No word on the cookout. 

Later that same year, black cotton sharecroppers met at a church in Elaine, Ark. They were trying to organize to get better prices but white farmers showed up. After an exchange of gunfire, a white man ended up dead.

The rumor spread that there was a black coup in Elaine 

Whites from all across the South came to Elaine to literally hunt Black ppl. No one still knows how many were killed. Estimates range up to 250. You know how they finally ended it?

Federal troops arrived...

And arrested all the black people who were left alive. 

In 1945, 19 black Air Force fighter pilots were arrested for trying to integrate an all-white officers club at an Indiana Airbase. 17 more showed up. They were arrested. 25 more showed up the next night, and were arrested.

Segregation was technically against military rule 

So the Air Force gathered all 101 black airmen in a room & offered a deal: All they had to do is sign a paper saying they agree to the segregation or,

Face arrest for violating a direct order, which was technically punishable by death.

All 101 refused.

They were all arrested 

Historically, the white "patriots" who love the flag and the troops treated black soldiers like they all took a knee before an NFL game.

In August 1947, Chicago residents grew angry when they realized the gov't was giving homes to Black veterans in the white Fernwood Park area 

The day after the families moved in, on August13, the whites attacked

For 3 days, as many as 5,000 white rioters pulled Black people out of cars and beat them. They threw rocks at the homes and smashed windows. Then they started setting fires.

The police did nothing. 

In 1949, black Chicago union stewards assembled went to a meeting. There were white people at the meeting, too. The meeting was even in the home of a white couple, but a rumor had already been circulating that black people were planning to buy a house in the white neighborhood. 

By the end of the meeting, hundreds of whites were outside.

This one lasted 5 days.

An estimated 10,000 white rioters took part in the Englewood riot.

Police did nothing to stop it. 

Remember when MLK wrote about "white moderates" in the Letter from a Birmingham Jail?" Well, those protests were partially successful.

On May 11, 1963 black protesters were celebrating. The city had decided to desegregate water fountains, lunch counters, retail stores... 

On May 11, 1963, the KKK was also planning a march in Bham because...you know.

Just before 11 am, a uniformed Bham police officer got out of his car and put a package on the porch of a small house.

It was dynamite.

It exploded. 

A few minutes later, another bigger bomb at the AG Gaston motel.

Everyone knows about the 16th St. church bombing in Birmingham, but few people know that there were more than FIFTY bombings in "Bombingham" during the Civil rights era 

One section of town was bombed so often it's still called "Dynamite Hill."

Of course, the KKK marched anyway.

Oh, and that bombed house belonged to A.D. King, Martin Luther King's brother.

King had left town a few hours earlier...

After checking out of the AG Gaston Hotel 

(Fun fact: Angela Davis and Condoleeza Rice grew up around the corner from each other in Dynamite Hill)

On February 5, 1968, black students from SC State tried to integrate a bowling alley. They were kicked out, but this time, the police were waiting to beat protesters. 

But students kept showing up. So the governor called the state troopers and the National Guard.

On Feb. 8, while attempting to put out a bonfire, the Troopers opened fire on 200 protesters, shooting dozens of black students and protesters. 

1 high school student was killed and 2 SCSU students. Police said they thought the students were shooting,

They weren't

One person was arrested, convicted and served time, Cleveland Sellers...

A student.

You might know his son @Bakari_Sellers 

In March, 1970, in Lamar SC, a mob of angry white people attacked black protesters. Well... these protesters were kinda young and they were protesting in a weird way:

They were going to school.

A judge had ordered the school district to integrate

There are so many more examples

Check out "Ax Handle Saturday" in Jacksonville, Fla.

Read about when Fannie Lou Hamer and the Mississippi Freedom Democrats showed up at the '64 convention

The Freedom Riders

Bloody Sunday in Selma

Art Bacon in Talladega 

So when white people show up to protests angry and outspoken, and nothing happens, you don't have to wonder what would happen if black people did that,

Just remember what happened when black people just SHOWED UP

Not if...

WHEN."

[togachipblog]

So Good Chips

As a teenager, I spent a lot of time with my Dad.  At the end of many high school days, I went to his CPA office to help him out and we spent a lot of time together in his car.  My Dad's favorite singers were Andy Williams, Eddie Arnold and Perry Como.  I was really into the Beatles and to put it mildly, neither of us favored the other's favorites.  At his office, my Dad only played instrumentals (ala MUSAK background/elevator music) and sometime a Beatles tune would come on, and not realizing it was the Beatles, my Dad would say "Now, that's a nice tune."   We did finally find common ground.  The singer who bridged our generation gap was Neil Diamond.  Read all about Neil's career at his official web-site.  http://www.neildiamond.com/.  In 2017, Diamond celebrated the golden anniversary of his show business career.  At the 2017 Grammy Awards held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the highlight was when host  James Korden did Carpool Karaoke with Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, John Legend, Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and the legendary Neil Diamond.  Neil has endured for over half a century with a prolific catalogue.  His biggest all-time hit is Sweet Caroline.   At the end of each chorus, "Good times never seemed so good" the entire audience sang "So good. So good. So good.  Enjoy the performance here.

So Good Potato Chip Company was a long-time manufacturer and marketer of potato chips , popcorn, cheese curls and and other related products in the St. Louis, MO. area.  So Good was  based in south St. Louis County.  The company began in 1934 and So Good Potato Chips were a staple in St. Louis for many years - in cans, and later in bags featuring Sally Sogood on the label.  See the photos.  Note how the last tin uses the term "Saratoga"  The original generic name of potato chips was "Saratoga Chips." 

An article entitled "The Energy Crunch" by Elaine Viets in the December 5, 1976 edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch describes how oils affect taste and the type of potato impacts color and is presented in part here because one of the sources is the President of So Good Potato Chips:

potato chips are "30 to 40 per cent oil."  The oil gives chips their flavor, [Potato Chip /Snack Food Association Vice President Larry} Burch said.  "If you cut down on oil, you cut down on flavor.  There's no such thing as a dietetic potato chip."  

Corn, peanut, soybean and palm oil are all used in potato chips.  Burch says that different areas prefer different oils.  Dayton, O. likes potato chips freid in peanut oil.  Chicagoans want them done in con oil.  

"If chips fried in another oil are introduced in a market dominated by say, corn oil, the new chips won't sell well," he said.  "People buy what they are used to."  Local chip men say St. Louisans are not too particular about their oil.  Chip color is another matter.

Eastern chip eaters like dark chips.  Westerners want them fishbelly white and Midwesterners, in a spirit of moderation,prefer golden yellow potato chips.  

St. Louisans keep changing their minds.  This information comes from Elmer Leeker, president of So Good Potato Chip Co., 4190 Hoffmeister Avenue.  So Good converts 10,000,000 pounds of potatoes into chips every year.

The chips are as pale as possible - that how St. Louis likes them.  "At one time, St. Louisans wanted dark chips," Leeker said.  "Then they liked them golden yellow.  Now they'll buy anything light."

It's the sugar in the potato that turns the chips dark brown.  It carbonizes when the chip hits the hot oil.  Potato growers developed special low-sugar potatoes for chipping, and while they were at it, they made the potatoes a nice, uniform oval that sliced into chips without much waste.  The low-sugar chipping potatoes aren't from Idaho, but Minnesota and north Dakota.  

Leeker says some light-chip fanatics still question the brown ring near the chip's edge.  "That's a sugar ring, and we can't do much about it - potatoes need some sugar," he explained.    

See the photos (black and white and color) of the So Good Potato Chip. Co.  The back of one of the photos contains the following handwritten note:

Chippers Graham, the Caldwells and Lloyd Brooks are gust of Bill Peche at the New So Good Plant in St. Louis during the Mid central meeting (of the Potato Chip Institute of America).  

In 1945, So Good entered into a licensing franchise agreement with Frito-Lay, Inc. to manufacture, package and sell corn chips under certain Frito-Lay trademarks.  Until the termination of this agreement in 1973, So Good also marketed other food chip products in its own package utilizing its own trademarks.  So Good later formed a subsidiary, So Good South, Inc. in Lithonia, GA that operated a non-union plant.  

Unfortunately, the company's history did not live up to its So Good name. Frito-Lay successfully sued Frito-Lay for marketing corn chip products in a package that violated So Good's agreement not to do so in a similar package.  

So Good was owned by A. Elmer Leeker.  On February 10, 1976, his son David W. Leeker, who worked for his father at the potato chip company, was tragically killed.  Peter W. Busch, the 20-year old son of beer baron August A. Busch, Jr., was charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of his friend David at the 281-acre Busch family estate.  Peter shot David once in the face with Peter's .357 magnum revolver.  

So Good's St. Louis plant closed Sept. 30, 1988 throwing 58 people out of work.  Subsequently, the subsidiary's Georgia plant which had about 80 employees also closed. Both the St. Louis company and it's Georgia subsidiary filed for bankruptcy in 1988.   Both companies later dissolved.  

Thanks to the Missouri History Museum and Kirwin Roach at the St. Louis Public Library for his help in researching the history of So Good.  

For years, legend was that Caroline in Sweet Caroline was about Caroline Kennedy.  However, in 2014, Neil Diamond set the record straight.  

I was writing a song in Memphis, Tennessee, for a session. I needed a three-syllable name," Diamond said during an appearance on "Today." "The song was about my wife at the time — her name was Marsha — and I couldn't get a 'Marsha' rhyme."

Read more about the song at

http://www.today.com/popculture/neil-diamond-reveals-sweet-caroline-secret-today-1D80228037

Enjoy Neil Diamond's Madison Square Garden 2008 performance of Sweet Caroline.

The Toga Chip Guy

[everettwilkinson]

POLITICO Playbook: Hot in Palm Beach: Marine One lands at PBI

Good Monday morning and welcome to Thanksgiving week. The president is leaving D.C. for Palm Beach tomorrow. Congress is gone. Might we get a quiet week?

HOT QUESTION IN PALM BEACH — PALM BEACH POST: “Trump in Palm Beach: President’s helicopter arrives. Will he use it?” by Christine Stapleton and Mahima Singh: “A huge Air Force transport plane flew over Mar-a-Lago Sunday afternoon before landing at Palm Beach International Airport where it delivered the presidential helicopter.

Story Continued Below

“But the delivery of the helicopter does not mean that President Donald Trump will use it to fly back and forth to Mar-a-Lago, where a new helipad was built on the back lawn of the estate. The helicopter, along with his black armored vehicle, travels with the president in the U.S. and overseas. …

“Locals are anxious to learn how the president will make the two-mile trip between the airport and Mar-a-Lago. The trip from the estate to Trump’s golf club, which is near the airport, also is about two miles. Earlier this year, the president’s motorcade brought traffic to a standstill for hours as an army of local, state and federal law enforcement closed roads near the route along Southern Boulevard.” http://pbpo.st/2zTkuEr

**SUBSCRIBE to Playbook: http://politi.co/2lQswbh

FRONT PAGE, ABOVE THE FOLD of the BOSTON GLOBE: “Why evangelicals are again backing a Republican despite allegations of sexual misconduct,” by Astead Herndon: “None of the nearly 10 pastors reached by phone said the allegations of sexual misconduct changed their views about Moore. Several said the allegations made them more proud to vote for the former judge. …

“‘I don’t know how much these women are getting paid, but I can only believe they’re getting a healthy sum,’ said pastor Earl Wise, a Moore supporter from Millbrook, Ala. Wise said he would support Moore even if the allegations were true and the candidate was proved to have sexually molested teenage girls and women. ‘There ought to be a statute of limitations on this stuff,’ Wise said. ‘How these gals came up with this, I don’t know. They must have had some sweet dreams somewhere down the line. ‘Plus,’ he added, ‘there are some 14-year-olds, who, the way they look, could pass for 20.’” http://bit.ly/2zRCkI9

GOOD CATCH — AP’S KEN THOMAS and CATHERINE LUCEY: “Bush administration alums rising in Trump’s orbit”: “The Bush influence has only grown stronger recently, as Trump nominated Alex Azar to lead the Health and Human Services Department, where he served under the Bush administration, and tapped Jerome ‘Jay’ Powell to be chairman of the Federal Reserve. Powell served in the Treasury Department under President George H.W. Bush. …

“The Bush alums in the administration include Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who served as Bush’s labor secretary, and Dina Powell, a deputy national security adviser who oversaw White House personnel and later served in Bush’s State Department under Condoleezza Rice. Even the president’s schedule and day-to-day operations are overseen by a former member of Bush’s inner circle: Joe Hagin, who served as deputy White House chief of staff.” http://bit.ly/2B3yeu6

WAPO’S DAVE WEIGEL in HOLLIS, NEW HAMPSHIRE: “Democrats see backlash over Republicans’ tax bill as a key to winning in the suburbs”: “‘Do you think it’s right to raise taxes on millions of hard-working Americans?’ asked Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) at a Friday night Democratic fundraiser. ‘Do you want to risk a $25 billion yearly cut to Medicare to give the wealthiest few a tax cut?’ The crowd of about 600 Democrats bellowed ‘no,’ still shocked by the party’s recent political gains. Coming off Election Day wins from Seattle to Long Island, Democrats are starting to see the shape of a new majority, built on a potential suburban backlash to changes in the tax code.” http://wapo.st/2B4C8mq

JONATHAN MARTIN in LITTLE ROCK on A14 of the NYT: “Celebrating a 25-Year-Old Clinton Win, but Still Stung by a More Recent Defeat”: “It was billed as a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Clintons’ ascension to the White House, held in some of the same haunts of the Arkansas capital where it all began.

“Yet the election that Bill and Hillary Clinton were most eager to revisit here was not Mr. Clinton’s triumph of a quarter-century ago. It was the one that Mrs. Clinton lost last year — one that the former first couple and many of their supporters have clearly not gotten over. For the first part of a 90-minute conversation with the Clintons on Saturday moderated by James Carville, Mr. and Mrs. Clinton made all manner of references, both direct and indirect, to the man who denied their bid to reclaim the White House, Donald J. Trump.

“However, it was not until Mr. Clinton invoked his wife’s losing campaign — “I’m proud of her for getting caught trying to put people first,” he said — that her admirers rose to their feet in what was an obvious emotional release. … Explaining how she had tried to cope with what she called a ‘very painful’ loss, she said she had taken to mystery novels ‘because the bad guy always got it in the end.’” http://nyti.ms/2zV06CR

TWEETER IN CHIEF — “Donald Trump takes the bait, and LaVar Ball’s Big Baller Brand wins again,” by USA Today’s Sam Amick: “LaVar Ball has done it again. … Never mind the threat of North Korea, the GOP tax reform plan or the accusations of collusion with Russia, the leader of the free world took a moment on Sunday to focus on a man who is nothing short of a marketing genius.

“‘Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal,’ Trump tweeted to his 42-million-plus followers about the incident in which three UCLA basketball players were caught shoplifting and later allowed to return home. ‘I should have left them in jail!’ Then about six hours later, Trump tweeted again: ‘Shoplifting is a very big deal in China, as it should be (5-10 years in jail), but not to father LaVar, Should have gotten his son out during my next trip to China instead. China told them why they were released. Very ungrateful!’” Take a bow, LaVar.” https://usat.ly/2zQisVZ

PROBLEMS FOR MERKEL IN GERMANY — POLITICO EU’S MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG: “Germany was thrust into political disarray late Sunday as talks to form a new government collapsed, raising the prospect of a new election while clouding Angela Merkel’s future as chancellor. Negotiations between Merkel’s conservatives, the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and Greens ended abruptly just before midnight after FDP leader Christian Lindner said he saw no hope the parties could break a stalemate that had dogged the discussions for days. …

“The failure means Germany is unlikely to have a stable government for months, hobbling Berlin’s ability to make pressing strategic decisions on everything from foreign policy to eurozone reform. With Europe facing a host of serious challenges, including disputes over the rule of law in Poland and Hungary and Brexit, the political instability in the EU’s largest country could hardly have come at a worse moment.” http://politi.co/2iwqM38

****** A message from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation: As Washington debates tax reform, there’s talk of tax cuts that will give trillions of dollars back to American taxpayers. That sounds great. But if these tax cuts aren’t paid for, future generations will be stuck with the bill. Congress, tax reform should grow the economy. Not the debt. www.pgpf.org/tax-reform ******

INSIDE 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVE — “‘A long winter’: White House aides divided over scope, risks of Russia probe,” by WaPo’s Ashley Parker and Carol D. Leonnig: “Six months into a special counsel’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, White House aides and others in President Trump’s close orbit are increasingly divided in their assessments of the expanding probe and how worried administration officials and campaign aides should be about their potential legal peril, according to numerous people familiar with the debate. Some in the West Wing avoid the mere mention of Russia or the investigation whenever possible.

“Others take solace in the reassurances of White House lawyer Ty Cobb that special counsel Robert S. Mueller III will be wrapping up the probe soon and the president and those close to him will be exonerated. … [S]ometimes, gallows humor creeps into the West Wing. ‘When the staff gather in the morning at the White House now, they jokingly say: “Good morning. Are you wired?”’ one person close to the administration said.” http://wapo.st/2AWg6S5

— “Special Counsel sends wide-ranging request for documents to Justice Department,” by ABC News’ Mike Levine: “Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team investigating whether President Donald Trump sought to obstruct a federal inquiry into connections between his presidential campaign and Russian operatives has now directed the Justice Department to turn over a broad array of documents, ABC News has learned. In particular, Mueller’s investigators are keen to obtain emails related to the firing of FBI Director James Comey and the earlier decision of Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from the entire matter, according to a source who has not seen the specific request but was told about it. Issued within the past month, the directive marks the special counsel’s first records request to the Justice Department, and it means Mueller is now demanding documents from the department overseeing his investigation.” http://abcn.ws/2hNASPR

JEN HABERKORN and PAUL DEMKO: “Obamacare mandate repeal may not deliver predicted blow”: “Repealing Obamacare’s individual mandate might not be the devastating blow to health insurance markets that supporters of the law fear. Because the tax penalty for not having insurance is far less costly than what many Americans would have to pay for coverage, many have chosen to take the fine. Eliminating it, therefore, might not radically change behavior — or fulfill the dire predictions of spiking premiums and vast increases in uninsured people that economists, health providers and politicians once predicted.” http://politi.co/2zV4eTn

NEW POLICY ALERT — “Trump Administration Tightens Scrutiny of Skilled Worker Visa Applicants,” by WSJ’s Laura Meckler: “The Trump administration is adding hurdles and increasing scrutiny in the employment-visa application process, making it harder for businesses to hire foreign workers, and companies and immigration attorneys are bracing for more changes soon. … The administration is more closely scrutinizing applications for the high-skilled visa program known as H-1B, sending back more than one in four applications between January and August via ‘requests for further evidence,’ according to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, known as USCIS, which administers the program. A year earlier, fewer than one in five were sent back.” http://on.wsj.com/2B3aXbH

— “What EPA chief Scott Pruitt promised — and what he’s done,” by Alex Guillen and Emily Holden. http://politi.co/2jGrZZ4 LAST NIGHT ON “KASIE DC” — @KasieDC: “So, what happens when you file a sexual harassment claim on Capitol Hill? Let’s walk through it …” http://bit.ly/2mJSwpB

TRUMP’S MONDAY — THE PRESIDENT is holding a Cabinet meeting, lunching with VP Mike Pence and HUD Secretary Ben Carson. In the afternoon, Trump will meet with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

THE JUICE …

— FORMER TREASURY SECRETARY JACK LEW is joining the private equity firm Lindsay Goldberg. He will still be a visiting professor at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.

FOR YOUR RADAR — “Zimbabwe’s Mugabe passes deadline to resign; now impeachment,” by AP’s Chris Torchia and Farai Mutsaka in Harare: “Longtime President Robert Mugabe ignored a midday deadline set by the ruling party to step down or face impeachment proceedings, while Zimbabweans stunned by his lack of resignation during a national address vowed more protests to make him leave. “Arrogant Mugabe disregards Zanu PF,” one newspaper headline said. Opposition activists and the influential liberation war veterans association announced more demonstrations to pressure the 93-year-old Mugabe, the world’s oldest head of state, to step down after 37 year in power. … Zimbabweans were astonished that Mugabe, flanked by the military in his national address Sunday night, remained defiant.” http://bit.ly/2z0zNYk

–“Behind Mugabe’s Rapid Fall: A Firing, a Feud and a First Lady,” by NYT’s Norimitsu Onishi: http://nyti.ms/2zRPTH7

CHARLES MANSON IS DEAD — AP’s John Rogers: “In the summer of 1969, a scruffy ex-convict with a magnetic hold on young women sent some of his disciples into the night to carry out a series of gruesome killings in Los Angeles. In so doing, Charles Manson became the leering face of evil on front pages across America and rewrote the history of an era. Manson, the hippie cult leader who died of natural causes Sunday at age 83 after nearly half a century behind bars, orchestrated the slayings of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six other people, butchered at two homes on successive August nights by intruders who scrawled ‘Pigs’ and ‘Healter Skelter’ (sic) in the victims’ blood.

“The slaughter horrified the world. To many, the collateral damage included the era of peace, love and flower power. The Manson Family killings, along with the bloodshed later that year during a Rolling Stones concert at California’s Altamont Speedway, seemed to expose the violent and drug-riddled underside of the counterculture and sent a shiver of fear through America.” http://bit.ly/2zXGKLl

PHOTO DU JOUR: Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci talks during an interview with the Associated Press in Jerusalem on Nov. 20. Scaramucci told the AP that although he has not spoken to Donald Trump in over a month, he talks to the president’s inner circle “regularly” and considers himself a media “surrogate” for the administration. | Ariel Schalit/AP Photo

SUSAN GLASSER: “How Trump Is Driving Democrats and Republicans Together” http://politi.co/2hPlZwy … Transcript of her conversation with Sen. Ben Cardin http://politi.co/2B4ycSX

MARC CAPUTO and MATT DIXON – “Sex scandals wreak havoc on Florida politics: ‘Florida is on fire. And it’s not a controlled burn,’ said one top Democrat”: “The Florida Democratic Party chairman resigned Friday in shame. A Republican state senator faces possible expulsion for sexual harassment. The state Senate’s top Democratic leader abruptly stepped down after admitting an extramarital affair with a lobbyist. Even amid the flood of sexual misconduct revelations that have rocked state capitals across the country, the nation’s biggest swing state has lived up to its reputation for political drama and excess over the past month, with major implications for next year’s contested U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections — and the next presidential race. …

“The biggest shock to the system unfolded Friday when the state’s Democratic Party chair, Stephen Bittel, quit after POLITICO Florida reported numerous women and men complained he created an uncomfortable work environment for young women … Bittel’s resignation was a major blow to U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson — Florida’s only statewide elected Democrat – who spent political capital on his friend and longtime donor to become chair of the state party in a bitterly contested race this year.” http://politi.co/2AewiC7 … Subscribe to Florida Playbook http://politi.co/2jHSZY1

IN ISRAEL — JERUSALEM POST: “POLICE QUESTION NETANYAHU FOR THE SIXTH TIME IN CORRUPTION PROBE: Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer questioned in Netanyahu probe … Police arrive at Netanyahu’s residence to question him in corruption probe,” by Udi Shaham: “The questioning focused mainly on Case 1000, the ‘gifts affair,’ in which it is suspected that the prime minister received expensive gifts from various businessmen.” http://bit.ly/2mKHfoX!

****** A message from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation: Washington is debating tax reform. There’s talk of substantial tax cuts that will give trillions of dollars back to American taxpayers. That sounds great. But if these tax cuts aren’t paid for, future generations will be stuck with the bill. Congress is right to pursue tax reform – the code is outdated, complex and unfair. Tax reform done right should be permanent, because businesses and individuals need certainty to plan and invest. It should be based on realistic, independent projections and assumptions about the effect on our economy and our fiscal outlook. And it should enjoy bipartisan support, so that it’s durable over time. Lawmakers should use the valuable opportunity presented by tax reform both to improve our fiscal outlook and strengthen the economy at the same time. Learn more about fiscally responsible tax reform at www.pgpf.org/tax-reform. ******

BEYOND THE BELTWAY — “As Silicon Valley Gets ‘Crazy,’ Midwest Beckons Tech Investors,” by NYT’s Steve Lohr: “The rationale for investing in the Midwest combines cost and opportunity. A top-flight software engineer who is paid $100,000 a year in the Midwest might well command $200,000 or more in the Bay Area. The Midwest, the optimists say, also has ample tech talent, with excellent engineers coming out of major state and private universities in the region. But they also point to technology shifts. As technology transforms nontech industries like health care, agriculture, transportation, finance and manufacturing, the Midwest investors argue that being close to customers will be more important than being close to the wellspring of technology.” http://nyti.ms/2B4PTSb

MEDIAWATCH — DAVID GURA to MSNBC — per Talking Biz News’ Chris Roush: “Gura has joined MSNBC as an anchor and correspondent. Gura had been with Bloomberg TV since March 2015. He has been the anchor of ‘Bloomberg Markets: The Trump Economy’ on Bloomberg Television and also co-anchor of ‘Bloomberg Surveillance’ on Bloomberg Radio. … Previously, he was a senior reporter for, and the principal back-up host of, ‘Marketplace.’” http://bit.ly/2ziYyn5

SPOTTED: Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) walking into Dulles Sunday, carrying his own bags.

WEEKEND WEDDING — NATALIE BUCHANAN, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s member services director, married SEAN JOYCE, former chief of staff to Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) Saturday night in Charleston, South Carolina. The ceremony was at St. Mary’s Catholic Church and the reception was at Governor Thomas Bennett House. SPOTTED: House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Mike and Katie Shields, Rob Simms, Barrett Karr, James Min, Freddy Barnes, Tim Berry, Todd and Jessica Johnson, Brian O. and Natasha Walsh, Tim and Holly Pataki and Tori Emerson Barnes.

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Judy Woodruff, anchor and managing editor of PBS “NewsHour”. How she got her start in journalism: “After college, I worked in Atlanta as a TV newsroom secretary; that combined with a short stint as weekend ‘weather girl’ (like Cinderella, I cleaned film and answered phones during the week; did weather on Sunday nights) led to my first reporting job: covering the Georgia state legislature and Atlanta politics for another station: an opening created after the only woman reporter left to have a baby.” Read her Playbook Plus Q&A: http://politi.co/2zi9Ojf

BIRTHDAYS: former Vice President Joe Biden is 75 … former U.N. Amb. John Bolton is 69 … Charlie Cook … Politico’s Sushant Sagar, Dan Goldberg, Ian Kullgren, Jeff Amster and Margaret Rives … Philip Ewing, national security editor at NPR … Jay Lefkowitz … Don Baker is 85 … Ryan Struyk, a data reporter and mobile producer for CNN (h/t Mariam Khan) … Carlton Owen, president and CEO of the U.S. Endowment for Forestry & Communities … Cecelia Prewett, SVP at SKDKnickerbocker, former FTC and Hill staffer (h/t Jon Haber) … Matt Miller … Jayne Sandman, principal at BrandLinkDC … Bloomberg TV’s Julie Hyman … Parita Shah, “a huge 90s hip hop fan” (h/ts Ben Chang and Adrienne Elrod) … Shawn Hils, a DNC research alum … Devorah Adler … Aaron Harison, president of the Washington Free Beacon … Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) is 58 … Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) is 38 … Boyd Bailey … Robert Edmonson, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s chief of staff, is 33. He celebrated over the weekend with brunch at The Bird with friends (h/t Mitchell Rivard) …

… Brian Reisinger, senior adviser to Scott Walker, alum of Ron Johnson and Lamar Alexander, and “always a Sauk County gentleman” is 33 (h/t William Allison) … Cassie Gerhardstein of McConnell’s leadership shop (h/t Steve Bradford) … Emily Matthews, a digital strategist at Saguaro Strategies (h/t Andy Barr) … HFA alum Courtney Corbisiero … John Darnton … Linda Bowman … Vincent Coppola … Elizabeth O’Connor … Ciara Torres-Spelliscy … Toni Nissi … Jenevieve Newman Beavers … Nikki Buffa, Obama Interior alum now counsel at Latham & Watkins … Alex Navarro-McKay, a managing director at BerlinRosen … Alexis Weiss … Al Baldasaro … Ciara Torres-Spelliscy … Beth Foster (h/t Teresa Vilmain)

****** A message from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation: Washington is debating tax reform. There’s talk of substantial tax cuts that will give trillions of dollars back to American taxpayers. That sounds great. But if these tax cuts aren’t paid for, future generations will be stuck with the bill. Congress is right to pursue tax reform – the code is outdated, complex and unfair. Tax reform done right should be permanent, because businesses and individuals need certainty to plan and invest. It should be based on realistic, independent projections and assumptions about the effect on our economy and our fiscal outlook. And it should enjoy bipartisan support, so that it’s durable over time. Lawmakers should use the valuable opportunity presented by tax reform both to improve our fiscal outlook and strengthen the economy at the same time. Learn more about fiscally responsible tax reform at www.pgpf.org/tax-reform. ******

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