The New York Times reports the suicide bomber who killed 8 people, including 7 CIA agents at a CIA base in Afghanistan last week was indeed an "intelligence asset" -- of the Jordanian Intelligence Service. He had been arrested in Jordan and flipped, so they thought. Instead, he tricked them.

The bomber had been arrested in Jordan and recruited by that country’s intelligence service — which believed that it had turned him into an ally — and then brought to Afghanistan to infiltrate the Qaeda organization by posing as a foreign jihadi.

But the supposed intelligence asset was actually a double-agent who was given explosives by militants in the frontier region between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which he wore to a meeting last Wednesday at Forward Operating Base Chapman, the C.I.A. base in the southeastern province of Khost.

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Entering the college bowl season, there were 5 unbeaten teams left in college football. Two of them meet in the national championship game - Alabama and Texas. 1 of them, Cincinnati, met Florida in the Sugar Bowl. Cincy got pasted by 27 points in a game that was not that close. So much for the idea that the Bearcats were the best team. The last two - TCU and Boise State, meet tonight in the Fiesta Bowl. Both teams have a chance to make their case tonight that they are the best teams.

TCU is a 7 point favorite. Sagarin has TCU as 4 points better. The teams met a year ago in the Poinsetta Bowl, with TCU eking out a 1 point win. Boise has a signature win over Pac 10 champion Oregon (not so valuable now that the Pac 10 has been exposed in the bowls.) TCU won the Mountain West, which has shined in the bowl games.

I think TCU is the better team. I think they win and cover. I like the Horned Frogs (-7).

Kevin Drum discusses this LATimes article on the American Needle v. NFL antitrust case, scheduled to be argued before the Supreme Court on January 13, 2010. There are interesting antitrust issues involved in the case, but I think there are two broader aspects of the case that are particularly of note. First, for those who doubt a momentous battle between the NFL and the NFL Players Association is in the offing when their collective bargaining agreement expires, this case should disabuse them of this notion. If the NFL is declared a single entity for antitrust law purposes, it will likely take very aggressive positions in bargaining with the NFLPA. And the NFLPA may have to up the ante by going on strike. Yep, no NFL football in 2011 seems a very real possibility. More . . .

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the conviction and life sentence of Zacarias Moussaoui. Moussaoui pleaded guilty to six counts of conspiracy related to the 9/11 attacks. During the penalty phase, the jury declined to impose the death penalty, and he was sentenced to life in prison, which he is serving at Supermax in Florence.

According to the statement of facts contained in his guilty plea, and his testimony, he was supposed to be part of a wave of a second set of attacks, the target of which was the White House. He was not, as many first thought, supposed to be the 20th hijacker on 9/11. He always denied that he knew any specifics of the 9/11 attacks.

In addition to affirming the conviction and sentence, the court rejected his request to have the case remanded back to the trial court due to the Government’s disclosure of classified information during the pendency of the appeal

The opinion is here. All of Moussaoui coverage, going back to 2002, is accessible here.[More..]

Via Greg Sargent:

In a statement, Rep Raul Grijalva, the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, criticized the scheme and complained he hadn’t even been consulted yet:

I am disappointed that there will be no formal conference process by which various constituencies can impact the discussion. I have not been approached about my concerns with the Senate bill, and I will be raising those at the Democratic Caucus meeting on Thursday. I and other progressives saw a conference as a means to improve the bill and have a real debate, and now with this behind-the-scenes approach, we’re concerned even more.”

A man who had been summoned for jury service was leaving the Las Vegas courthouse when shooting erupted outside. There's no video of the actual shooting, but he has audio of the gunshots -- and there sure were a lot of shots fired. He ends with, "I think they got him."

No motive has yet emerged for the shootings which claimed the life of a court security officer and the gunman, and injured a Deputy U.S. Marshal.[More...]

John Emerson wrote this, in a comment to this d-day post:

Political insiders, media people, political pros, etc. take this as Rule One. If you don’t realize that your candidate is going to cheat you, it’s your fault for being a sucker. The pros and insiders are proud to be on the cheating side and not on the cheated side. Go to a centrist blog and you’ll see people talking that way in the comments. “Who were those suckers who believed in hope that you can believe in? How could anyone believe in that?”

If you’re on the cheater side of the consent/governance divide, you’re cool. If you’re on the cheated side, you’re an idiot. And if you get mad about being cheated, you’re a paranoid conspiracy theorist, and the conspirators laugh at you.

(Emphasis supplied.) I think I have the distinction of both having been a cynical person who did not believe in the whole "change you can believe in" nonsense (remember "not a dime's worth of difference?") who also feels cheated (making me a sucker). I thought that with the mandate he won in November 2008 - Obama would actually make a bigger difference. I was wrong. So I am a new species of citizen - the cynical sucker.

Speaking for me only

Chris Bowers:

Democracy Corps is the only polling outfit currently measuring the specific 2010 Democratic enthusiasm gap. [. . .] What Democracy Corps found is that "drop-off" voters favor Democrats by a whopping 53%-36%. This compares to a narrow, 47%-45% Democratic advantage of likely voters. If drop-off voters were included in the overall sample, Democrats would lead 48%-43%. While this is only one data point, it means that the enthusiasm gap is currently costing Democrats about 3% nationally.

How many seats lost does "only 3%" translate into? 20 in the House? 4 Senate seats? I do not know but find it a curious attitude. Who cares about the drop off is an interesting message to read from Bowers. Hopefully, professional Dems are more worried about it than that.

Speaking for me only

As lilburro points out, the new Dem strategem of ping ponging the health bill makes a mockery of the fear of reconciliation as a "nuclear option" politically (see Nate Silver's argument on that point.) Coming soon from the mouths of Republicans near you, ping pong as the new "nuclear option." Jon Cohn writes:

According to a pair of senior Capitol Hill staffers, one from each chamber, House and Senate Democrats are “almost certain” to negotiate informally rather than convene a formal conference committee. [. . .] Whatever form the final discussions take place, a decision to bypass conference would undoubtedly expedite the debate, clearing the way for final passage (if not signing) by the end of January. And, as long as both chambers still get their say, that's a good thing.

I will wait for a procedural expert (Kagro's explanation seems full of holes to me, though this one is better, but still I have questions) to explain how ping ponging will "expedite" the process (my understanding is that actually conference reports are not subject to amendment and only require one cloture vote - a non conference bill would seem to have MORE, not less, procedural hurdles), but I know one thing for sure, ping pong will be the NEW "nuclear option."

Speaking for me only

Susie Madrak finds the Pete Peterson hacks at it again.

From the pols are pols file -- NYTimes Editorial:

Anyone who doubts the degree of executive branch pliability [. . .] needs to consider this: The party that urged the Supreme Court not to grant the victims’ appeal because the illegality of torture was not “clearly established” was the Obama Justice Department.

The shot of the college hoops season so far:

This is an Open Thread.

Iron Chef at the White House with Michelle Obama. The task is for the four chefs to cook using ingredients from the White House garden. The garden was beautiful.

Also tonight: New episodes of Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters.

What are you watching tonight? If nothing, feel free to discuss something else.

Politico reports the TSA announced new security rules for passengers coming to the U.S., and heightened security for those coming from or through certain countries.

All travelers flying into the U.S. from foreign countries will receive tightened random screening, and 100 percent of passengers from 14 terrorism-prone countries will be patted down and have their carry-ons searched, the Obama administration was notifying airlines on Sunday.

The TSA announcement is here.

SA is mandating that every individual flying into the U.S. from anywhere in the world traveling from or through nations that are state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest will be required to go through enhanced screening. The directive also increases the use of enhanced screening technologies and mandates threat-based and random screening for passengers on U.S. bound international flights."

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