While Douglas V. Gibbs was off at an activism seminar - which is kind of like a camel enrolling in a hump class - JASmius and Alex Ferguson held down the fort.  But the host was not completely absent, for due to the miracle of digital audio, I brought you Mr. Gibbs' interview on Al-Jazeera America regarding illegal immigration, and his (and our) post-interview thoughts and analysis.

Then, after a short 7,895 hour intermission came more Big Stories of the Week: NATO member Turkey shot down second Russian warplane in a month; Marco Rubio, not Ted Cruz, was the REAL ObamaCare-slayer; Ted Cruz overtaking Ben Carson and Donald Trump in Iowa; ACLU sued then-Indiana Governor Mike Pence to force Syrian "refugee" invasion on "living, breathing" constitutional grounds; and "smart power" (aka The Obama Doctrine) came home to roost.

Live podcasts resume January 2nd, 2018.