Yeah, That Just Might Put Your Eye Out  Dear Jolter, I'm going to multi-task this salutation. I've said "Dear," so the salutating is done. Next comes bald-faced merchandising (before I tempt you with NR editorial goodies). Here goes: You surely have a special conservative someone in your life for whom you've just got to get a Christmas present. But since he's on the wagon, is allergic to fruitcake, and doesn't wear ties, you're stuck. And long ago you concluded that that Ralphie's mom was right when she told him he'd lose an eye with that BB gun, so that's not an option. Not a good one anyway. But friend, there is indeed one terrific, never-fail idea: It's the gift of a full-year subscription to National Review, the gift that keeps giving, fortnightly. The cost? It's only $29.50. And you don't have to drive to the mall to get it. Order here. Now, on to the editorial goodies. Editorials 1. The anti-Trump biases of so many members of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller's legal team prompts NR to demand that the investigators be investigated. From the editorial: Everything that has happened in the Trump probe stands out against a backdrop of leniency in the Clinton investigation. While Mueller has prosecuted two Trump associates for lying to the FBI, the Obama Justice Department gave a pass to Mrs. Clinton and her subordinates, who gave the FBI misinformation about such key matters as whether Clinton understood markings in classified documents and whether her aides knew about her homebrew server system during their State Department service. Mueller's team conducted a predawn raid at gunpoint in executing a search warrant on Paul Manafort's home while Manafort was cooperating with congressional committees. When it came to the Clinton case, though, the Justice Department not only eschewed search warrants, or even mere subpoenas, but they never even took possession of the DNC server alleged to have been hacked by Russian operatives. 2. It would be easier to divide by zero than to pull off the impossible as Roy Moore did this week. NR had a few editorial words to say about his Bannon-aided loss in the Alabama special election. Among them: Trump and Bannon thought they were cleverly getting in front of the parade of an inevitable Moore victory, in ruby-red Alabama. Instead, they associated themselves with a man credibly accused of preying on young girls and got rebuked by Alabama voters whose standards weren't as low as theirs. Podcastaggedon 1. The NRO geniuses have launched a new show this week: Reality Check with Jeanne Allen, the highly regarded education-reform guru. And she blasts two episodes out pronto: The debut show she is joined by Professor Howard Fuller to blast a new AP "analysis" which purports to show that charter schools "put growing numbers in racial isolation." No sooner is that up on the interwebs than comes episode two, in which Jeanne and Minnesota ed-reform champ Joe Nathan (a self-described "Paul Wellstone Democrat") discuss how it is the case for some liberals to make common cause with political conservatives in creating real choices and opportunities for lower-income children. 2. Two thumbs up for the new episode of Projections, in which Kyle Smith and Ross Douthat review Lady Bird and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and then discuss why it's impossible to turn away from The Godfather when you're flipping through the channels. 3. Give me your ears! There's a brand spanking new episode of The Editors upon us: Rich, Reihan, Charlie, and MBD discuss Doug Jones's victory, consider wisdom of the tax bill, and wonder whether Mueller's Trump investigation has cooties. 4. In the latest episode of The Jamie Weinstein Show, the man who Ross Douthat said is arguably "the most influential political writer of his generation," Andrew Sullivan, sounds off on how he thinks President Trump is doing; how the #MeToo movement has gone too far; Trig Palin's parentage (that is some kind of demented); relationships with prominent figures like the late Bill Buckley, Boris Johnson, and Niall Ferguson; and much more. 5. It's a potpourri guest-free new episode of The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, in which our Host of Hosts does his rank punditry routine on Roy Moore's defeat; answers listener questions; yammers about veganism, best conservative books, best Twitter accounts, trade deficits, Al Gore's inhuman presence, lazy teenage boys; and more. 6. On the new episode of Q and A, Jay Nordlinger interviews famed U.S. diplomat Ryan Crocker, taking a tour of Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and other countries. 7. And then Jay doubles down on Jaywalking. In one episode, he talks about Jerusalem, the NFL, and Theresa May (two Theresa Mays, actually). And then in the other episode Jay focuses on a new novel by Mark Helprin, Paris in the Present Tense. By the way, just a couple of weeks back the New York Times gave the book a boffo review. 8. The Mighty Quin Hillyer has a book out: It's called Mad Jones, Heretic (The Accidental Prophet). And over at The Bookmonger, it's being discussed by Quinn and John J. Miller. 9. Heading down Cormac McCarthy's The Road on the new episode of The Great Books podcast are JJM and Regent University's Michael Crews. 10. Writer Josh Jordan joins Beam-Me-Up Scot Bertram and Lotsa-Heff Jeff Blehar on the new episode of Political Beats. Discussed: It can't be jelly, so it must be Pearl Jam. 11. Over at The Liberty Files, David and Xan turn the new episode into a discussion on the Alabama special election. Asked and answered: Was there a progressive wave, or did conservatives go on strike? A Dozen NR Articles of Note, Presented as a Sufficient Word to the Wise 1. How is it that when political reporters make an "honest mistake," the screw-up benefits Democrats? David Harsanyi nails it. The fact that many political journalists (not all) have a political agenda is not new (social media has made this fact inarguable), but if they become a proxy of operatives who peddle falsehoods, they will soon lose credibility with an even bigger swath of the country. They will have themselves to blame. 2. On the same topic, Jonah Goldberg piles on. 3. College is a boondoggle. Kyle Smith reflects on an important piece in The Atlantic (by economist Bryan Caplan) concluding that too many kids are heading too and wasting time on America's campuses. 4. With the GOP's recent thumpings at the polls, Rich Lowry figures that Donald Trump may be channeling Obama: We don't know if Trump will experience a midterm shellacking on par with Obama's in 2010, or, getting more speculative, go on to win reelection anyway. But every indication is that Obama and Trump are similar in that their modes of operating work much better for them than their parties. 5. It's the time of year for the Toy Killjoys to do their Wet Blanket thing. But Phil DeVoe is having none of it. 6. An exhausting season nears its ending. Theodore Kupfer thinks the NFL may also be starting the long process of its own demise. From his piece: Football won't vanish overnight. But it might be facing a similar fate: a long, slow decline as violence, damage to brave and fit participants, strewn human wreckage as veterans sink into dementia and decline, and desperate denials of the obvious by a short-sighted, profit-motivated sporting establishment, attain critical mass. 7. The simple recipe for North Carolina's fiscal success is: cut taxes, restrain spending. Donald Bryson reports. 8. Moore. Ben Shapiro says "The Legend of Trump" doesn't transfer. The money shot: Trumpism, it turns out, isn't a philosophy. It's just a man who ran and won against the most unpalatable candidate in modern American history. That's an incredible accomplishment. It's not a strategy. 9. More Moore: Alabama-born David French considers why the Republicans lost the special election. Here's part of his explanation: When I looked at Alabama's special election, I saw something far more than a mere political contest. I saw a cultural moment. I saw the gasps of a dying way of life that was seeking to resuscitate itself through the twisted fury of partisan politics. I saw local bigots hitching their wagons to national bigots -- men like alt-right champion Steve Bannon -- in a kind of Old South Pickett's Charge. Like Pickett, they failed. They lost a race that was almost impossible to lose. 10. More more Moore. Kat Timpf isn't doing an Alabama weather report when she says Moore's refusal to concede his election is a textbook "snowflake" move. 11. David Bahnsen shows a little love for the ever-castigated hedge fund. From the defense: The irrational demonization of the hedge-fund industry has already brought about unintended consequences. After the financial crisis, Congress decided to prove that it was doing something by requiring hedge funds to disclose their positions on a quarterly basis in public filings. This increases risk, creating copycat investors, encouraging front-running, and causing other misallocated-capital decisions from those who see the funds' positions without being privy to the entire thesis that justifies their bets. 12. Scott Walker, hero of old, remains one. Tarren Bragdon reminds us, thankfully. Star Wars About The Last Jedi: Kyle Smith no likey. From his review: If your movie depends on Mark Hamill trying to be Walter Matthau, you've got trouble. Why is Luke, previously the most earnest guy in the galaxy, letting loose with acerbic wisecracks? When Rey hands Luke her precious light saber, he tosses it over his shoulder like an empty can of Dr. Pepper. He mocks it as a "laser sword," while Rey, asked to explain the Force, calls it a "power . . . that makes things float." Seven Things from Friends, Smart Folks, and Others Who Have Written Something Worth Sharing 1. Boo hoo: The Amazon Post reports that 2017 was indeed a very bad year for Steven Donzinger, the lefty New York trial attorney who tried to shake down Chevron. 2. Kareim Oliphant gives a solid review of Leigh Wright Rigueur's The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power for The University Bookman. A slice: In many ways, the manifestations of black conservatism within the GOP were direct responses to the rightward shift of mainstream Republican thought. However, though black Republicans become more conservative over time, their conservatism typically remained distinct from that of the rest of the GOP, as black Republicans balanced their commitment to racial egalitarianism with traditional conservative principles. But this doesn't mean that black Republicans were monolithic -- far from it. In their quest for recognition and influence within the GOP, black Republicans navigated the treacherous waters of racial identity and politics in unique ways. Black Republican thought ran the gamut from the aggressive militancy of athlete-turned-activist Jackie Robinson and the National Negro Republican Assembly (NNRA) to the reactionary convictions of Clarence Thomas and the Lincoln Institute for Research and Education (LIRE). 3. Our friends at the American Legislative Exchange Council have published a make-you-weep report: "Unaccountable and Unaffordable: 2017 Unfunded Public Pension Liabilities Top $6 Trillion." Here's its summary: Unfunded liabilities of public pension plans continue to loom over state governments nationwide. If net pension assets are determined using more realistic investment return assumptions, pension funding gaps are much wider than even the large sums reported in state financial documents. Unfunded liabilities (using a risk-free rate of return assumption) of state-administered pension plans now exceed $6 trillion -- an increase of $433 billion since our 2016 report. The national average funding ratio is a mere 33.7 percent, amounting to $18,676 dollars of unfunded liabilities for every resident of the United States. 4. If every town had a mayor like Mario Kranjac, Hizzoner of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., America wouldn't need any great-making. You'll love how he fights nonsense. 5. Lay off the Our Father, Papa: At First Things, Anthony Esolen explains why the Pope's . . . tempting . . . idea to rewrite is so very wrong. 6. In City Journal, Anne Hendershott bemoans the trend among Catholic colleges to be anything but . . . Catholic. From her essay: Nowadays, however, rather than embracing the good, the true, and the beautiful, Catholic universities have adopted the same curricular fads as their secular peers, hosting departments of gender studies, black studies, ethnic studies, and gay and lesbian studies. Campus leaders claim that Catholic universities' "commitment to social justice" differentiates them from non-parochial colleges, but they neglect to mention that they have defined the term "social justice" so broadly that campuses now welcome chapters of the pro-abortion Law Students for Reproductive Justice. Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown law student who became a celebrity in promoting the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate, was president of Georgetown's LSRJ chapter. 7. At Gatestone Institute, A.Z. Mohamed reports on how Jihad is festering in America. Eye Candy: 1. What Social Security won't give you is security. Chris Hogan explains in the new Prager University video. 2. Here's part two of Victor Davis Hanson's excellent "Uncommon Knowledge" discussion with Peter Robinson about his acclaimed new book, The Second World Wars. 3. In November in NYC, National Review Institute hosted a discussion of the book featuring Victor and Rich Lowry. C-SPAN2 was there to capture it. You'll really enjoy it. A dios Had wanted to do a lot more but today, life very much got in the way. More (not Moore) and better next week, just in time for Saint Nick. In the meanwhile, if you have a good recipe for bacalla, send it to me at jfowler@nationalreview.com. And remember there are hurting souls out there -- do something nice for one of them. God's blessings on all conservatives, and everyone else too, Jack Fowler | 
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