SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:21 P.M. ET: 

CLOSE CALL – John Boehner was able to put down a revolt among House Republicans, some of whom wanted him replaced, but the result was much closer than expected.  From WaPo:  "In the end, their rebellion was not enough to unseat Boehner: The speaker won on the first round with 216 votes, 11 more than he needed. But it was far larger than a similar coup attempt against Boehner in 2013. In fact, it was the largest rebellion by a party against its incumbent speaker since the Civil War."  A warning that party conservatives will not be potted plants.

OH, THANK YOU, SIR – The president of Mexico is helping us absorb his citizens.  From the Washington Times:  "Mexico’s president told President Obama Tuesday that his government will supply the documents necessary for millions of illegal Mexican immigrants to prove they’ve been living in the U.S. prior to 2010, a move that will help them qualify for Mr. Obama’s recently announced deportation amnesty.  In an Oval Office meeting, President Enrique Pena Nieto praised Mr. Obama’s executive action on amnesty as 'very intelligent and audacious,' and said his government will do everything in its power to ensure that Mexicans who want to stay in the U.S. can do so."  Disgraceful.  You'd think he'd be ashamed that so many citizens want to leave his country, which is an oil-exporting nation.  How about trying to help your citizens stay and build Mexico?

PRESIDENT CHRISTIE? – From WaPo:  "New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie watched his beloved Cowboys win a playoff game Sunday in Dallas, hugging and yukking it up with Jerry Jones in the Cowboys owner’s luxury suite.  The trip, however, is proving to be controversial. Christie flew to Dallas and accepted the ticket to the game at the expense of the Cowboys’ owner, who just so happens to have a business relationship with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey."  Look, the optics are terrible.  Christie is really not presidential material.  He's a good governor, but his state is losing an embarrassing number of businesses and people.  The party has better presidential timber. 

MAJOR CULINARY NEWS – From AP:  "Venezuela's more than 100 McDonald's franchises have run out of potatoes and are now serving alternatives like deep-fried arepa flatbreads or yuca, a starchy staple of traditional South American cooking.  McDonald's is blaming a contract dispute with West Coast dock workers for halting the export of frozen fries to the country. The dispute also caused several days of French fry rationing in Japan last month. But Sonia Ruseler, an Argentina-based spokeswoman for Arcos Dorados, which runs McDonald's restaurants in Latin America, declined to say Tuesday why Venezuela's neighbors are not suffering from similar scarcity.  Accustomed to shortages of their favorite foods, and equally in the habit of grumbling about the government as they walk away empty-handed, many Venezuelans assume the embattled socialist administration is to blame."  I'm researching to see whether cutting off French fries is an act of war.

January 6, 2014