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PBC News & Comment, 12.20.19: Yang Surprises in Best DemPrez Debate So Far

With 7 candidates onstage, each got enough time to explain agendas, and Andrew Yang set himself apart on many issues…..--PBS/Politico moderators did decent job, let candidates talk and debate

--moderates Biden and Klobuchar were strong and avoided mistakes

--Warren and Klobuchar ganged up on Buttigieg

--Sanders and Warren were strong on progressive issues, Bernie shouts too much

--Bernie had the best answer on beating Trump—with high turnout

--all of the candidates ignored the threat to Obamacare from court ruling

--Bloomberg unveils modest health plan, Obamacare + public option

--DNC escalates its terms for next debate January 14 in Des Moines

--Congress adjourns after passing ugly spending bills and approving NAFTA 2.0

--Ways & Means chair Richie Neal is blamed for killing budget amendment to end surprise hospital bills

--in first splintering of Trump’s evangelical base, Christianity Today calls for Trump’s removal for moral failure; he retorts with binary false choice

--Harvard law professors Feldman and Tribe argue over technicalities of impeachment

--Russiagate skeptic Aaron Maté says Dems’ impeachment strategy is “doomed and dangerous”

--unnamed sources say John Durham’s investigation into Russiagate is now looking at John Brennan

--at ConsortiumNews, John Kiriakou demands corrections from James Comey about FISA court and IG report

--Boris Johnson’s new Conservative majority delivers Brexit bill

--at MintPress, Alan Mcleod reports on courageous journalist Tareq Haddad, who quit Newsweek in protest over censorship of Syria chemical weapons

--Columbia Journalism Review exposes new network of “local news sites” that include conservative bias

--Washington state investigation reveals that legislator Matt Shea was central to Bundy occupations, tagged as “domestic terrorism

--in California, Conviction Integrity Unit tosses 3 cases linked to fired cop

--Boeing suffers another setback, as launch of space capsule ended up in wrong orbit

--satellite imagery now can identify major methane leaks