Morning Reads: Gun Sales Spike in Ferguson

Good morning — and a Happy Veteran’s Day to all those who have served and their loved ones.

On this date in 1976, Congress decided that no military officer should ever outrank George Washington, who led the Continental Army as a Lieutenant General, so they posthumously awarded him the title of General of the Armies of the United States.

Also a long time coming –> On November 24, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, the three young civil rights volunteers murdered in Mississippi during Freedom Summer fifty years ago, will posthumously receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Dark and light money –> At Republic Report, Lee Fang takes note of the fact that while corporations and ideologically motivated fat-cats are able to cover up much of their political spending, labor unions face stringent disclosure rules.

What if you held an election and nobody came? –>Princeton University numbers-cruncher Sam Wang writes at TAP that this is exactly what happened last week — and that all the polls were off because the models didn’t anticipate the lowest turnout since 1942. ALSO: Paul Waldman writes that a silver lining for progressives in last week’s midterms was that conservative Democrats from the South took a shellacking, and that should make the Democratic caucus more liberal.

Don’t hold your breath waiting for Congress –> The Atlantic’s Peter Beinart argues that GOP threats to go to war with the administration if Obama moves ahead with an executive action on immigration are just bluster. “Ever since Obama became president,” he writes, “Republicans have been opposing his agenda militantly while periodically warning that if he pushes forward with it they’ll stop being so cooperative.”

Quieren justicia –> Mexico has been roiled by angry protests over the murders of 43 students in cartel-related violence. At the same time, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto is being dogged by a corruption scandal. In the midst of the chaos, Tracy Wilkinson reports for the LAT that Nieto “did what many a beleaguered chief executive might want to do. He left the country.”

Locked, loaded and scared witless –> Guns are flying off the shelves in and around Ferguson, Missouri, as the community awaits a grand jury’s decision on whether Darren Wilson will be indicted for the shooting death of Michael Brown. Jason Kravarik and Sara Sidner report for CNN.

“Politically motivated attacks” –> At ThinkProgress, Emily Atkin reports that a new group has been formed with the sole purpose of defending climate scientists from scurrilous attacks by “skeptical” lawmakers and other science-deniers.

Picky, picky –> Alessandria Masi reports for the International Business Times that Islamic State militants, fearing spies among a huge influx of Western fighters streaming into Iraq and Syria, have made it more difficult for outsiders to join the group. AND: At The Daily Beast, Jamie Dettmer warns that the US-led air campaign in Syria may be driving militant groups that have previously fought one another into a dangerous new alliance. But US intelligence officials are doubtful that they can overcome their differences.

Been there, done that –> Esquire asked two former Senate leaders, two retired members of the House and a couple of former Hill staffers to come up with a plan to fix our broken and unpopular Congress.

GITMO –> Vice has published a number of articles on life inside the infamous prison that’s become a symbol for the excesses of “the war on terror.”

Catching up to reality –> For 80 years, the FBI’s definition of “rape” didn’t include incidents in which physical force wasn’t used, or male victims. Amanda Hess reports for Slate that the official rape statistics may increase by up to 40 percent now that the agency has adopted a more realistic definition of the crime.

300 mpg –> Volkswagen is set to introduce what the company claims to be the world’s most efficient car, a diesel-plug-in hybrid capable of getting 300 miles to a gallon of gas. Autocar has the details.

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