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 Greetings, The news broke late in the evening last night that Kim Jung Il, the walking punch-line who sat atop the world's most brutal and backward regime, died of "fatigue." North Korea is, bafflingly, a nuclear power, and control of the regime is said to be transferred to his 29 year old son, Kim Jung Un. Kim Jung Il's bequeaths his people primitive state and degraded people that worshiped him even as they starved. It is almost worse than George Orwell's nightmare vision of 1984. North Koreans are said to be on average 3-6 inches shorter than their counter-parts in the South. The entire North Korean economy produces less wealth in a year than the amount of wealth that South Korea adds to its annual economy through growth. The sad fact is that stitching the Korean peninsula back together is a task so daunting that most of the major players in the region are anxious to try it. Not only is there a wealth-gap that is almost unthinkable, but South Koreans regularly discriminate against North Korean who escape their prison-state to make a life in the South, believing them to be inferior in their health and education. Unfortunately, this is often a justified assessment. The question is whether the North Korea's nuclear threat or the pure grinding poverty and destabilization force the issue anyway. THE REPUBLICAN RACE: Newt Is Falling. We told you last week that the Gingrich bubble was letting out air. Now it is really confirmed by the latest polls out of Iowa, in which Ron Paul has a small lead. According to Public Policy Polling, Newt Gingrich's "share of the vote has gone from 27% to 22% to 14%." He is facing just an onslaught of negative ads in Iowa from from Ron Paul and a SuperPAC that is aligned with Mitt Romney. The Restore Our Future PAC has spent $3.5 million on an ad that talks about Newt Gingrich's "baggage." Both the Paul campaign and operations aligned with Romney have been stuffing Iowa's mailboxes with negative literature on Gingrich. And Gingrich is scrambling to simply get on the ballot in many states. His campaign had been such a shambolic mess after the summer collapse, he is still trying to recover on the organizational front. The result is that the Gingrich campaign looks destined to fall apart by Christmas. And Ron Paul is looking increasingly like a potential Iowa winner. But Ron Paul has a ceiling among Republican voters, though no one is sure where that is. And Romney too, has favorability problems. There is still time for a well-funded, retail-politicking candidate to make a move and try to be the last anti-Romney. Perry is betting on Iowa. And Huntsman is betting on New Hampshire. Each of them must hope that the anti-Mitt vacuum is still so strung it can suck them up into the top tier by the time South Carolina and Florida cast their votes. But they must make their move quickly. THIS DAY IN POLITICS: On December 19, 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton was impeached on two charges of perjury and obstruction of justice by the U.S. House of Representatives. On December 19, 1776, Thomas Paine issued his first American Crisis essay, in which he wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls."
TWEETS OF THE DAY: The news of the death of North Korea's horrifying and ridiculous dictator inspired a number of brilliant jokes in 140 characters. But our favorite series came from Reason magazine's Jesse Walker speculating on the #scenarios to come with the apparent ascension of Kim Jong Un. 
And this: 
WHAT'S NEXT: The House Republicans are making hay out of the Senate's two-month, temporary extension of the payroll tax-cut. Zeke Miller writes: Republicans are worried that the two-month extension will allow Obama to continue making the tax cut—which has broad public support—an issue at he steps up his reelection campaign. The House Republican opposition leaves three options: begrudgingly accept the Senate bill, go to a conference committee to reconcile Senate and House differences, or raise the stakes and alter the Senate bill before sending it back. Expect some action in one of these directions by mid-day tomorrow. Senator Harry Reid has put out a statement at the time of this writing, saying "I will not re-open negotiations until the House follows through and passes this agreement" Take care, Michael Michael Brendan Dougherty
Politics Editor
Business Insider mbdougherty@businessinsider.com Please follow Politics on Twitter and Facebook. | 
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