TRUMP tells people at Mar-a-Lago that they just got ‘a lot richer’ from tax bill -- FLAKE: An independent and Republican will challenge Trump -- NYT’s VICE harassment story -- CHRIS HANSEN engaged

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Driving the Day

Good Sunday morning, and merry Christmas eve. PRESIDENT TRUMP did a video teleconference with members of the military this morning. He and first lady Melania will also participate in NORAD Santa tracker phone calls.

-- POOL REPORT: “President Trump complimented the military on ‘how well we’re doing’ in the fight against terrorism. ‘We’re winning,’” per pooler Lucas Daprile of the Treasure Coast Newspapers. “‘I just want to wish everybody a very, very merry Christmas, we say Merry Christmas, again, very, very proudly. Very, very merry Christmas.

“We’re going to have a great year, an incredible year. I’m thrilled to bring season’s greetings on behalf of the first lady and our entire family and most importantly, on behalf of the American people. Today and every day we’re incredibly thankful for you and for your families. Your families have been tremendous. Always underappreciated, military families, the greatest people on earth.’”

QUOTE DU JOUR -- OFF MESSAGE: CBS News’ Katie Watson: “President Trump kicked off his holiday weekend at Mar-a-Lago Friday night at a dinner where he told friends, ‘You all just got a lot richer,’ referencing the sweeping tax overhaul he signed into law hours earlier. Mr. Trump directed those comments to friends dining nearby at the exclusive club — including to two friends at a table near the president’s who described the remark to CBS News — as he began his final days of his first year in office in what has become known as the ‘Winter White House.’ ... On Saturday when asked for comment, the White House reiterated the benefit of the new law to the middle class.” http://cbsn.ws/2C0pXe3

SUNDAY NYT, A1, MIKE SHEAR and JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS: “Out of Chaos, Trump Reshapes Immigration”: “Late to his own meeting and waving a sheet of numbers, President Trump stormed into the Oval Office one day in June, plainly enraged. … Mr. Trump then began reading aloud from the document, which his domestic policy adviser, Stephen Miller, had given him just before the meeting. The document listed how many immigrants had received visas to enter the United States in 2017.

“More than 2,500 were from Afghanistan, a terrorist haven, the president complained.
Haiti had sent 15,000 people. They ‘all have AIDS,’ he grumbled, according to one person who attended the meeting and another person who was briefed about it by a different person who was there.

“Forty thousand had come from Nigeria, Mr. Trump added. Once they had seen the United States, they would never ‘go back to their huts’ in Africa, recalled the two officials, who asked for anonymity to discuss a sensitive conversation in the Oval Office.

“As the meeting continued, John F. Kelly, then the secretary of homeland security, and Rex W. Tillerson, the secretary of state, tried to interject, explaining that many were short-term travelers making one-time visits. But as the president continued, Mr. Kelly and Mr. Miller turned their ire on Mr. Tillerson, blaming him for the influx of foreigners and prompting the secretary of state to throw up his arms in frustration. If he was so bad at his job, maybe he should stop issuing visas altogether, Mr. Tillerson fired back.”

“Tempers flared and Mr. Kelly asked that the room be cleared of staff members. But even after the door to the Oval Office was closed, aides could still hear the president berating his most senior advisers.” http://nyti.ms/2BIEEDd

-- STEPHEN MILLER GOES ON THE RECORD: “‘We have taken a giant steamliner barreling full speed,’ Mr. Miller said in a recent interview. ‘Slowed it, stopped it, begun to turn it around and started sailing in the other direction.’”

-- WHITE HOUSE’s denial, via Sarah Huckabee Sanders: “‘General Kelly, General McMaster, Secretary Tillerson, Secretary Nielsen and all other senior staff actually in the meeting deny these outrageous claims,’ she said ... ‘It’s both sad and telling The New York Times would print the lies of their anonymous “sources” anyway.’”

FOR YOUR RADAR -- “North Korea says new U.N. sanctions an act of war,” by Reuters’ Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Hyonhee Shin in Seoul: “The latest U.N. sanctions against North Korea are an act of war and tantamount to a complete economic blockade against it, North Korea’s foreign ministry said on Sunday, threatening to punish those who supported the measure. … In a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency, North Korea’s foreign ministry said the United States was terrified by its nuclear force and was getting ‘more and more frenzied in the moves to impose the harshest-ever sanctions and pressure on our country’. The new resolution was tantamount to a complete economic blockade of North Korea, the ministry said.” http://reut.rs/2BKlm0h

MCCABE, OUT -- “Facing Republican attacks, FBI’s deputy director plans to retire early next year,” by WaPo’s Devlin Barrett and Karoun Demirjian: “Andrew McCabe, the FBI’s deputy director who has been the target of Republican critics for more than a year, plans to retire in a few months when he becomes fully eligible for pension benefits, according to people familiar with the matter. McCabe spent hours in Congress this past week, facing questions behind closed doors from members of three committees. Republicans said they were dissatisfied with his answers; Democrats called it a partisan hounding. McCabe, 49, holds a unique position in the political firestorm surrounding the FBI.

“He was former director James B. Comey’s right-hand man, a position that involved him in most of the FBI’s actions that vex President Trump and in the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state, a matter that still riles Democrats. McCabe won’t become eligible for his full pension until early March. People close to him say he plans to retire as soon as he hits that mark. ‘He’s got about 90 days, and some of that will be holiday time. He can make it,’ one said.” http://wapo.st/2C0XsdP

CHRISTMAS WEEKEND TWEETS -- @realDonaldTrump on Saturday at 3:27 p.m.: “How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin’ James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife’s campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?” … at 3:30 pm.: “FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits. 90 days to go?!!!” … this morning at 7:25 a.m.: “.@FoxNews-FBI’s Andrew McCabe, ‘in addition to his wife getting all of this money from M (Clinton Puppet), he was using, allegedly, his FBI Official Email Account to promote her campaign. You obviously cannot do this. These were the people who were investigating Hillary Clinton.’” …

... at 8:48 a.m.: “The Fake News refuses to talk about how Big and how Strong our BASE is. They show Fake Polls just like they report Fake News. Despite only negative reporting, we are doing well - nobody is going to beat us. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

MILITARY.COM’S HOPE HODGE SECK: Gen. Robert “Neller emphasized to the Marines that they should remain ready to fight at all times, predicting a ‘big-ass fight’ on the horizon.

“‘I hope I’m wrong, but there’s a war coming,’ Neller said. ‘... You’re in a fight here, an informational fight, a political fight, by your presence.’ Neller later told the Marines that he expects the Pacific and Russia to be the service’s operational points of focus as the nation looks beyond the fights in the Middle East that have stretched into the better part of two decades.” http://bit.ly/2BYcscg

UPHILL CLIMB -- “Trump supporters greet tax law with shrugs and measured hope,” by AP’s Tom Beaumont in West Des Moines and Nicholas Riccardi in Denver: “In pockets of the country where Trump scored big with voters last year, the response to the tax overhaul is mainly a muted one. You’ll get a few blank stares, some confusion and a bit of hedged optimism. What you won’t hear is excitement. Nearly all taxpayers will receive an initial tax cut. But an analysis by the Tax Policy Center shows that the gains favor the wealthy. For households earning between $48,600 and $86,100, the average tax cut in 2018 will be $930. But the top 1 percent of earners — with incomes above $732,800— will enjoy an average tax cut next year exceeding $50,000.” http://bit.ly/2pjG40S

-- JAKE TAPPER talks to SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT.) on CNN’S “STATE OF THE UNION”: TAPPER: “Ninety-one percent of middle-income Americans will receive a tax cut. Isn’t that a good thing?” SANDERS: “Yeah, that is a very good thing. That’s why we should’ve made the tax breaks for the middle class permanent. But what the Republicans did is made the tax breaks for corporations permanent, the tax breaks for the middle class temporary, and according to the Tax Policy Center … at the end of 10 years, 83 percent of the benefits go to the top 1 percent. Sixty percent of the benefits go to the top one-tenth of one percent.

“Meanwhile, at the end of 10 years, well over 80 billion Americans are paying more in taxes. Thirteen million Americans, as a result of this legislation, lose their health insurance. Health premiums are going up. You’ve got a $1.4 trillion deficit as a result of this bill. And Paul Ryan is going around saying ‘Oh, we have to offset that deficit by cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.’ To answer your question, should we have focused on the needs of the middle class? We should have.”

A CLIP AND SAVE FOR REPUBLICANS … OUTSIDE OF THE EAST-COAST BUBBLE -- OMAHA WORLD-HERALD FRONT PAGE: “After tax overhaul, American Dream home may be more attainable,” by Cindy Gonzales: “Unlike in some coastal cities with higher-priced housing, the real estate market in Omaha isn’t expected to cool after the federal tax overhaul that would limit the deduction for mortgage interest.

“The Omaha area might even see a spurt of housing activity as a result of the broader tax overhaul, said Vince Leisey, owner of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Ambassador Real Estate. He said, for instance, local filers who don’t have expensive big-city mortgages or other deductions large enough to itemize could benefit from the proposed near doubling of the standard deduction. The overhaul could bump up disposable income and spark the pool of first- and second-time homebuyers to shop for their American Dream.” http://bit.ly/2D5ZqZA … A1 PDF http://bit.ly/2DFC5ip

ALABAMA, A PURPLE STATE? Front page of the Huntsville Times: “The color purple: How millennials and Gen X after electing Doug Jones could change a red state,” by John Sharp: “If the biggest surprise on Dec. 12 was Doug Jones beating Roy Moore, the second-biggest might be the following: According to exit polling, voters under age 40 backed the Democrat by margins that the political world would label as astronomical.

“For example, Alabama voters ages 25 to 29 favored Jones over Moore by 27 percentage points. That margin ballooned to 34 percentage points among voters 30 to 39. As the voters’ ages increased further, the pendulum swung toward Moore, and the turnout grew. But it wasn’t enough to close the gap.

“These numbers, circulating around the state, intrigue longtime observers who study and analyze Alabama politics, history and culture. In interviews, they express a sense that Dec. 12 could prove to be a foretelling of things to come, of deep-red Alabama taking on the color purple, becoming less reliably Republican and veering away from hardline social conservatism.” http://bit.ly/2zo4mXh

INTERESTING READS -- DENVER POST FRONT PAGE -- “Colorado’s growing political divide leaves rural communities feeling forgotten and voiceless” story http://dpo.st/2C2K7nw … A1 PDF http://bit.ly/2tFmhHp

-- MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL: “Foxconn could be centerpiece of 2018 legislative races,” by Patrick Marley in Madison: “Foxconn Technology Group may as well be on Wisconsin ballots next fall. The top Democrat in the state Assembly said he will use the state’s $3 billion incentive deal with the Taiwanese company against Republicans in next year’s campaign. His GOP counterpart said that strategy marks a political mistake that will backfire.

“Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) said he is working on compiling a list of highway projects that will be delayed so work can be done on roads near Foxconn’s planned liquid crystal display panel plant in Mt. Pleasant. He’ll report his findings to Assembly Republicans and their constituents, he said.

“‘We’re going to go directly into their districts once we get those lists of projects and we’re going to call them out for supporting a project that takes money directly out of their districts to hand to a company that we’ve already given $3 billion of taxpayer commitment to,’ Hintz said in an interview. ‘So I think once we ratchet up the heat, I’m pretty sure that their constituents and taxpayers throughout the state are not very excited about raiding funds to pay for Foxconn.’” http://bit.ly/2D5fc6S

ANYONE SHOCKED? -- “Woman accuses United of giving her seat to Houston’s Sheila Jackson Lee,” by the Houston Chronicle’s Susan Carroll: “A passenger on a flight from Houston to Washington D.C. has accused United Airlines of giving her first-class seat to U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Houston), and then threatening to remove her from the plane for complaining and snapping a photo of the Houston congresswoman.

“‘It was just so completely humiliating,’ said Jean-Marie Simon, a 63-year-old attorney and private school teacher who used 140,000 miles on Dec. 3 to purchase the first-class tickets to take her from Washington D.C., to Guatemala and back home. When it came time to board the last leg of her flight home from George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Dec. 18, after a roughly hour-long weather delay, Simon said the gate attendant scanned her paper ticket and told her it was not in the system. …

“Jackson Lee issued a statement on Saturday afternoon saying: ‘I asked for nothing exceptional or out of the ordinary and received nothing exceptional or out of the ordinary.’” http://bit.ly/2l6IBGx

CLICKER -- “The top 10 Senate races of 2018,” by Kevin Robillard: http://politi.co/2BXDwbn

HOT JOB – “Communications Director, Obama Foundation”: http://bit.ly/2D59ime

SUNDAY BEST -- FLAKE FOR PRESIDENT? JON KARL talks to SEN. JEFF FLAKE (R-ARIZ.) on ABC’S “THIS WEEK”: FLAKE: “That’s not in my plans. But I do wonder, I do worry, that in the future we’ll be faced with a … President Trump running for reelection on one side, drilling down hard on a diminishing base and on the other side you might have you know somebody like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren on the far left of the Democratic Party. That leaves a huge swath of voters in the middle, that may be looking for something else.”

KARL: “But you are open to running for president in 2020.” FLAKE: “I don’t rule anything out, but it’s not in my plans.” KARL: “It’s coming up by the way.” FLAKE: (LAUGHS) “It is.” KARL: “Would you be more likely to run for the Republican nomination against the president, or as an independent candidate?” FLAKE: “Like I said, I haven’t thought that deeply about it. But I do believe if the president is running for reelection, if he continues on the path that he’s on, that that’s gonna leave a huge swath of voters looking for something else.” KARL: “So you’re saying if he is the Republican nominee again, we’re likely to see an independent candidate, whether or not it’s you…” FLAKE: “Oh yes, I think he’s inviting that. He’s probably inviting a Republican challenge as well. But certainly an independent challenge, yes

Playbook Reads

TWEET DU JOUR -- @jaketapper: “CNN-labeled blood on the sole of his shoe. Retweeted by the President of the United States on Christmas Eve.” http://bit.ly/2C1eRW7

MNUCHIN’S GIFT -- KTLA “LAPD Confirms Someone Sent Horse Manure in Holiday Gift Wrap to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin”: “Someone sent a package wrapped in holiday gift paper and filled with horse manure that was addressed to United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and placed on a street in Bel-Air, the Los Angeles Police Department said Saturday evening.

“The package was reported to police after it was discovered in the 900 block of Bel-Air Road, LAPD officials said. LAPD Sgt. R. Briggs described the contents of the package to be horse feces.” http://bit.ly/2BsQ6OR

IMMIGRATION WATCH -- “Judge blocks Trump refugee order,” by Josh Gerstein: “A federal judge has partially blocked an order President Donald Trump issued in October suspending admission of refugees from 11 countries, most of which are majority Muslim. U.S. District Court Judge James Robart issued a nationwide preliminary injunction Saturday afternoon that prevents the administration from halting or diverting resources from refugee applications brought on behalf of family members of immigrants already in the U.S. The injunction does not provide relief for refugees who lack a ‘bona fide relationship’ with individuals, businesses or schools in the U.S.” http://politi.co/2D738Sy

NYT’S SERGE KOVALESKI: “The Las Vegas Gunman Was Rich. Will His Wealth Go to the Victims?”: “His fortune is not big enough -- perhaps $5 million, according to some estimates -- to make a significant dent in the likely payouts from lawsuits and claims against [Stephen] Paddock’s estate. But it is enough to prompt an unusual legal strategy by lawyers for some of Mr. Paddock’s victims, who want to make sure the money is not depleted by legal expenses. The lawyers have asked a Nevada court to set up the estate so that the money can be distributed, without lawsuits, to families of the dead and those who were wounded in the attack. One idea being discussed is folding Mr. Paddock’s assets into a fund already set up for victims, which has raised about $22 million.” http://nyti.ms/2kPulCM

SEXUAL HARASSMENT FILES -- “In California, harassment scandals roil ruling Democrats,” by California Playbookers David Siders and Carla Marinucci in Los Angeles: “A national reckoning on sexual harassment that got its start in Hollywood is now upending Democratic politics throughout the nation’s most populous state. Scandal-induced resignations will cost California’s Democratic Party its supermajority in the state Legislature at least temporarily next year, and the fallout is spilling into the 2018 elections. It’s scrambling calculations for some of the state’s most powerful politicians in Sacramento, and even House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was caught in the fray when she defended now former-Rep. John Conyers last month as an ‘icon.’

“‘We’re in unchartered territory here,’ said Garry South, a veteran Democratic strategist who advised former California Gov. Gray Davis. ‘This whole issue has hit a critical mass in a very short time. I’ve never seen anything like it before — and I don’t know where it ends.’” http://politi.co/2D44ttC

MEDIAWATCH -- NYT A1, “At Vice, Cutting-Edge Media and Allegations of Old-School Sexual Harassment,” by Emily Steel: “One woman said she was riding a Ferris wheel at Coney Island after a company event when a co-worker suddenly took her hand and put it on his crotch. Another said she felt pressured into a sexual relationship with an executive and was fired after she rejected him. A third said that a co-worker grabbed her face and tried to kiss her, and she used her umbrella to fend him off. These women did not work among older men at a hidebound company. They worked at Vice, an insurgent force in news and entertainment known for edgy content that aims for millennial audiences on HBO and its own TV network.

“But as Vice Media has built itself from a fringe Canadian magazine into a nearly $6 billion global media company, its boundary-pushing culture created a workplace that was degrading and uncomfortable for women, current and former employees say. An investigation by The New York Times has found four settlements involving allegations of sexual harassment or defamation against Vice employees, including its current president. In addition, more than two dozen other women, most in their 20s and early 30s, said they had experienced or witnessed sexual misconduct at the company — unwanted kisses, groping, lewd remarks and propositions for sex.” http://nyti.ms/2C5Dh0G

– “Joan Walsh’s Contract at MSNBC Is Not Renewed,” by NYT’s Matt Stevens: “Ms. Walsh, who is also a national affairs correspondent for The Nation and was previously the editor in chief of Salon, lamented the decision on Saturday on Twitter, saying she had learned her fate the night before while baking with her daughter. ‘I’ve given my heart and soul to the network, from the George W. Bush years through today,’ she said. ‘I’m proud of the work I did.’ Ms. Walsh said in her tweet that she had worked with MSNBC for a dozen years, including six on contract.

“Network officials could not immediately confirm the length of her time as a paid contributor but issued a statement calling Ms. Walsh ‘a key voice on MSNBC for years.’ ‘Every year we review our paid contributors list across the ideological spectrum,’ the statement said. ‘Unfortunately we couldn’t renew Joan, but she and her distinct perspective will still be invited on our shows.’ Officials said she would be welcome on MSNBC but as an unpaid contributor.” http://nyti.ms/2l4p09W

WORTH THE CLICK -- “Our Most Popular Reads of 2017: Politico Magazine readers’ favorite stories of the year.” http://politi.co/2D73PeC

BONUS GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman, filing from San Miguel de Allende, Mexico:

--“Late Nights Online,” by Helena Fitzgerald in Hazlitt: “The end of AOL Instant Messenger might be a blip, but it’s still a loss for a certain micro-generation—for people who, like me, got their period and their first screen name the same year.” http://bit.ly/2kyO8Gr

--“The Secret History of the Russian Consulate in San Francisco,” by Zach Dorfman in Foreign Policy: “Overflights, mapping fiber-optic networks, ‘strange activities.’ Moscow’s West Coast spies were busy.” http://atfp.co/2zbWvvV

--“Winning Slowly Is the Same as Losing,” by Bill McKibben in Rolling Stone: “The technology exists to combat climate change – what will it take to get our leaders to act?” http://rol.st/2kyWQEy

--“‘An orgy of serious policy discussion’ with Paul Krugman,” Q&A with Vox’s Ezra Klein: “If you walked into a 1957 kitchen you would be annoyed: Where’s my microwave? But you would basically know what to do and feel able to function. But if someone from 1957 walked into a kitchen from 1897, they’d be horrified: How do people live like this? If I take that particular metric, technological progress over the past 60 years has been substantially slower than it was over the previous 60 years.” http://bit.ly/2CT7tsL (h/t TheBrowser.com)

--“God’s Oppressed Children,” by Pankaj Mishra in the N.Y. Review of Books, reviewing “Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family and the Making of Modern India,” by Sujatha Gidla: “India, the world’s largest democracy, also happens to be the world’s most hierarchical society; its most powerful and wealthy citizens, who are overwhelmingly upper-caste, are very far from checking their privilege or understanding the cruel disadvantages of birth among the low castes. Dalits remain largely invisible in popular cinema, sitcoms, television commercials, and soap operas. No major museums commemorate their long suffering.” http://bit.ly/2kVej9B ... $16.24 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2BOqRHR

--“American Pimps,” by Shawn Hamilton in The Baffler – per Longreads.com’s description: “Many NFL players are recognizing that their sports careers are lies, because the owners don’t care about players’ health or longevity, or validate their identity as black men in America. Seeing American professional football through the lens of the pimp game makes clear the power, exploitation, collusion and immorality at the heart of a business that treats players like property and gaslights the viewer.” http://bit.ly/2CSafhG

--“Dark books,” by Tara Isabella Burton in Aeon Magazine: “What’s more wholesome than reading? Yet books wield a dangerous power: the best erode self, infecting readers with ideas.” http://bit.ly/1PjeX6N

--“The Secrets of Sleep,” by Jerome Groopman in the New Yorker: “Why do we need it, and are we getting enough?” http://bit.ly/2zoWUeE

--“The Dawn Watch review: a reminder of Joseph Conrad’s artistic greatness,” by Ed O’Loughlin in the Irish Times: Maya “Jasanoff argues that Conrad anticipated many modern challenges, including terrorism, migration, globalisation and runaway technological change.” http://bit.ly/2kUcNo8 (h/t ALDaily.com)

--“Could Facebook Be Tried for Human-Rights Abuses?” by Ingrid Burrington in The Atlantic – per Longreads.com’s description: “In Myanmar, Facebook is the de facto internet. Does that mean they can be legally responsible for their actions — or lack thereof — when content there influences politics or incites violence?” http://theatln.tc/2kVD8lE

--“A Fleeting Resource: In Praise of the Deep Cold,” by Miranda Weiss in LitHub: “What is it to live in such a cold place? It means that the world around you is drowned for half a year under a sea of snow and ice. ... In the middle of winter, the sun—if it appears at all—is barely higher than eye level above the horizon. Even at noon, the light is lean, casting long shadows across the frozen ground.” http://bit.ly/2kzT4ed

--“Backfire,” by Wendy Gillis in the Toronto Star: “After a Brantford officer walks into his station and confesses to murder, an unprecedented investigation reveals the ruinous toll of lethal force on both sides of the gun.” http://bit.ly/2DpVbJi (h/t Longform.org)

--“Finding a Fix,” by Julia Lurie in the Jan./Feb. issue of Mother Jones: “Embedded with the suburban cops confronting the opioid epidemic.” http://bit.ly/2p5Zoy
--“The Implosion of Western Liberalism,” by Patrick Lee Miller in Quillette: “‘Western liberalism is under siege,’ writes Edward Luce in his short new book, ‘The Retreat of Western Liberalism.’ Whether it is under siege, retreating or imploding, there is no longer any doubt that it is embattled. To anyone over 40, moreover, this is a puzzling—and likely also disturbing—development.” http://bit.ly/2zccY3e ... $15.91 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2BLfpN4

--“In Mexico, ‘It’s Easy to Kill a Journalist,’” by NYT’s Azam Ahmed in Tierra Blanca, Mexico: “Mexico is one of the worst countries in the world to be a journalist today. At least 104 journalists have been murdered in this country since 2000, while 25 others have disappeared, presumed dead. On the list of the world’s deadliest places to be a reporter, Mexico falls between the war-torn nation of Afghanistan and the failed state of Somalia.” http://nyti.ms/2kAOhsG

--“Morton Downey Jr. Hosted the Original Trump Rally—30 Years Ago,” by Charles F. McElwee III in the American Conservative: The “‘Loudmouth’ provocateur created the populist talk show format -- then lost it.” http://bit.ly/2fTEED0

Playbookers

ENGAGED – CHRIS HANSEN, NRSC’s executive director and former COS for Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), on Friday proposed to his girlfriend MEGAN CUMMINGS, the former NRCC finance director now VP of political affairs at Quicken Loans, at sunset in Pacific Beach, Calif. “They met five years ago when he tagged along with her and some mutual friends to Good Stuff.” Pic http://bit.ly/2zo2CgX

BIRTHDAYS: Attorney General Jeff Sessions is 71 (Santa cap tip: Sarah Isgur Flores) ... Dan Pfeiffer, co-host of Pod Save America and CNN contributor, is 42 ... Dennis Cheng, former finance director for Hillary for America ... Gene Sperling is 59 ... Dr. Anthony Fauci is 77 ... former Afghan president Hamid Karzai is 6-0 ... recording company executive Mike Curb is 73 ... Walter Pincus is 85 ... CNBC’s Ylan Q. Mui ... Marsha Catron, former deputy assistant secretary at DHS (Santa cap tip: Todd Breasseale) … former Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) is 68 ... Harvard prof Jonathan Zittrain ... Richard Schlackman ... Atif Harden … the Brookings Institution’s Ellen Ochs (Santa cap tips: Jon Haber) … Grace Franceschelli ... Charlie Liebschutz, associate VP at SRCPmedia, is 34 ...

... Mark Prentice is 33 ... CBS News’ Anna Sugg ... Michael Shoaff is 69 ... Barb Nelson … Damon Marx is 28 ... Sabrina Singh ... Bloomberg’s Nizar Manek ... Alix Montes ... William Ward Wyatt ... Dorinda Moss Verhoff ... Edelman’s Lindsay McGarity … Nathan Carleton, director of executive comms at Walmart ... Corry Schiermeyer ... NYT’s Brian Zittel is 45 ... Sarah Penny Smith ... Sharon Williams ... Jodi Ochstein ... Kelly Collis ... James White ... Mary Higgins Clark … Lauren Hernandez … Grace O’Meara ... Mark Kornblau ... Ken Biberaj ... AJ Sugarman ... Roger Lempke ... Kim Caldwell ... Adam Wood.