Greg Mitchell | The Nation

As you surely know by know, after much huffing and puffing and threats, enough Republicans in the House (about one in three) ended up backing the Senate’s “fiscal cliff” bill to get it passed by a comfortable margin. House Speaker John Boehner and Representative Paul Ryan ended up backing it, whiile Representative Eric Cantor and other hard-rightists opposed.

For starters, here’s a colorful Politico account of Boehner twice telling Harry Reid to “Go fuck yourself!” twice last Friday, just steps from the Oval Office, and then bragging about it to his colleagues. Politico also suggests Reid feels Obama has given away too much leverage now.

Joe Scarborough this morning wondered how the GOP could have “mismanaged” the whole affair any worse. By the way, from the other side of the spectrum, MoveOn.org sent out a mass e-mail near the end asking members to call Democratic Congress members and ask them to vote no.

Earlier this week I covered the bold—some say, foolhardy—action by my local newspaper, The Journal News (owned by Gannett), to publish thousands of names and addresses of gun permit holders in Rockland and Westchester counties, New York.  It sparked wide debate among local gun owners, media critics and ethicists, officials and politicians.

One prominent gun-defender retaliated by publishing the names and addresses of newspaper staffers, even those with no link to publishing the gun listings, even including their children in some cases. Then that move was slammed. Legislators in the state announced they would introduce a bill to forbid the release of such information to anyone but police and prosecutors.

The paper has defended its move and now, according to a new Reuters report, it plans to continue in this vein.

It was captured in brilliant and harrowing fashion by Woody Guthris in his classic “1913 Massacre” (see below), but few may know the story of the actual tragedy, which took place on Christmas Eve of that year, at a party for striking miners and their families in Calumet, Michigan. Seventy-three died, including fifty-nine children.

I don’t often link to Wikipedia but there’s a quite full rundown here. It’s been the subject of several academic studies and much debate in recent years, so I suggest you read the full account. Mother Bloor was reportedly present, but some even dispute that.

The basic outline: Someone shouted “Fire!” at the crowded party in the Italian Hall. There was a rather inaccessible fire escape and the only real exit was down a narrow, steep, flight of stairs, and dozens of kids got trampled to death. In Woody’s version, and many others, the “Fire!” shouter was sent by the copper mine bosses to create just such an event. Woody added the twist (not claimed by others) that “thugs” held the doors to the street shut from outside.

The National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre, speaks during a news conference in response to the Connecticut school shooting on Friday, Dec. 21, 2012 in Washington. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)