Sen. Lindsey Graham leaving the Gina Haspel briefing: “As to Pompeo and Mattis, I have great respect for them. I would imagine if they were in a Democratic administration, I’d be all over them for being in the pocket of Saudi Arabia.”
— Frank Thorp V on Twitter, December 6, 2018

THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON PARTISANSHIP. ANY QUESTIONS?

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS
Vacations on the Maya Riviera. A visit to the Basilica of the Sacred Family in Barcelona. A BMW. Expensive meals and a tour aboard a yacht. Those are some of the photos shared by Tony Castro, grandson of the late Fidel Castro, on his private Instagram account. …

In Cuba, where the official average salary is barely over $30 per month, bread is rationed and coffee has 50 percent lentils to make it last longer, taking vacations abroad is a luxury.

Castro family members rarely show up in public, except for Antonio Castro and now his son Tony. In 2015, Antonio was photographed in the Greek resort island of Mykonos and aboard a luxury yacht in Bodrum, Turkey, where he also reportedly rented five suites in one of the most expensive hotels.
— Miami Herald, January 4, 2019

REGULATE YOURSELF
A state senator pushing a bill that would require pistol-seekers to submit to a social-media search urged a Senate Republican aide to kill herself in a nowdeleted Twitter post on Tuesday.

The verified Twitter account of Sen. Kevin Parker, D‑Brooklyn, posted the violent demand Tuesday morning after the aide, Candice Giove, accused him of misusing a Senate-issue parking placard.

“Kill yourself!” Parker tweeted.
— Democrat & Chronicle, Rochester, NY, December 18, 2018

“AS YE HAVE DONE IT UNTO ONE OF THE LEAST OF THESE MY BRETHREN, YE HAVE DONE IT UNTO ME“
Prosecutors argued this week that members of the borderland faith-based organization No More Deaths broke the law by leaving jugs of water and cans of beans for migrants trekking through a remote wilderness refuge in the Sonoran Desert.

The most serious charges have been leveled against Scott Warren, a 36-yearold academic, whom the government charged with three felony counts of harboring and conspiracy, for providing food, water, and a place to sleep to two undocumented men over three days last January. Warren faces 20 years in prison if convicted and sentenced to consecutive terms.
— The Intercept, January 17, 2019

BECAUSE YOU’RE THE LAWMAKING BRANCH OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT?
On the prospects of a wall-free funding bill, Sen. Richard Burr (R‑NC) put it this way: “The president won’t sign it. Why would we work on it?”
— Washington Post, January 22, 2019

CHAVEZ OF THE NORTH
Here’s the truth, brothers and sisters, there’s plenty of money in the world. Plenty of money in this city. It’s just in the wrong hands!
— Mayor Bill de Blasio, January 10, 2019

QUIT RATE FOR GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES SOARS … TO ONE-THIRD THE PRIVATE-SECTOR RATE
Teachers and other public education employees, such as community-college faculty, school psychologists, and janitors, are quitting their jobs at the fastest rate on record.

In the first 10 months of 2018, public educators quit at an average rate of 83 per 10,000 a month, according to the Labor Department. While that is still well below the rate for American workers overall 231 voluntary departures per 10,000 workers in 2018it is the highest rate for public educators since such records began in 2001.
— Wall Street Journal, December 29, 2018

READ THE CONSTITUTION, POLITICO
Congress looks to usurp Trump’s foreign policy powers.
— Headline in Politico, December 5, 2018

OF COURSE WE’D ALL STARVE WITHOUT FARM SUBSIDIES
The farm bill is years in the making and crucial for the people who grow the food we eat.
— NPR, December 11, 2018