Washington's political establishment went berserk when US Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) publicly noted that US-Israel relations are "all about the Benjamins" — slang for $100 bills, referring to money shoveled at American politicians by the American Israel Public Affairs Group (AIPAC).

Unless Congress and the Trump administration reach a new spending deal by February 15, the federal government will go back into "partial shutdown" status. As of February 10, congressional negotiators seem to be nearing agreement on a deal that includes about $2 billion in funding for President Trump's "border wall" project. Trump, as before the recent shutdown, is seeking $5.7 billion.

On January 28, home invaders murdered 58-year-old Rhogena Nicholas and 59-year-old Dennis Tuttle of Houston, Texas. Nicholas and Tuttle wounded five of the (numerous) armed burglars before being slain.

That's not how the news accounts put it, of course. Typical headline (from the Houston Chronicle): "4 HPD officers shot in southeast Houston narcotics operation, a fifth injured."

The longest partial "government shutdown" in US history ended on January 25. To get Leviathan's gears turning at full speed again, President Donald Trump said uncle on funding for his pet border wall project in return for a three-week "return to normalcy."

More interesting than the (quite possibly temporary) end of the "shutdown" is the direction things were taking right before the wall funding came tumbling down.