Culture War: The FBI is trying to determine whether the fatal shooting yesterday at the Pensacola Naval Air Station was an act of terrorism. A member of the Saudi Air Force at the base for training shot and killed three people and wounded eight before he was killed by local sheriff’s deputies.

  It’s the second shooting in a week at a US military base. 

  Authorities detained six other Saudis, three of whom were seen filming the incident. A group that monitors online jihadist activity said that shortly before the shooting, a Twitter account with a name matching the gunman’s posted a “will” calling the United States a “nation of evil” and criticizing its support for Israel.

  President Trump tweeted that Saudi King Salman told him that, “The Saudi people are greatly angered by the barbaric actions of the shooter, and that this person in no way shape or form represents the feelings of the Saudi people who love the American people.” Somehow, we doubt that.

We’ll Pass: President Trump and his representatives at the White Have who have consistently claimed they’ve been cut out of the impeachment proceedings, decided not to participate as the House holds hearings this week and writes articles of impeachment. 

Econ 101: The economy added 266,000 jobs in November. The economy continues to be very strong. At 3.5 percent, November was the 21st consecutive month with an unemployment rate of 4 percent or lower. 

According to Sources: President Trump was on a rant yesterday about news stories attributed to unnamed sources. He tweeted, “Do not believe any article or story you read or see that uses ‘anonymous sources’ having to do with trade or any other subject. Only accept information if it has an actual living name on it. The Fake News Media makes up many ‘sources say’ stories. Do not believe them!”

  This comes from a man who used to talk to reporters under the guise of a fake name. Reporters don’t make up stories or sources. For one thing, other reporters would be glad to expose them if they do. 

  CNN’s Brian Stelter explains how it works on the White House beat:

“Trump’s supporters might not know this, but the White House regularly hosts what are called ‘background briefings.’ At those briefings, a senior administration official will brief the press on certain subjects and take questions from reporters. Only catch? The information is often not attributable to the person, but to an unnamed ‘senior administration official.’”

  Stelter goes on to say, “The White House press office also uses this tactic. When reporters ask White House spokespeople questions, it’s not unusual for them to get a response back providing information attributable only to an unnamed ‘White House official.’” 

The Bulletin Board: Pacific Gas & Electric agreed to pay a total of $13.5 billion to people who last homes and businesses in the fire last year that destroyed Paradise, California. The fire was sparked by the company’s electric lines. — In a prisoner swap, Iran has agreed to release an American student accused of being a spy. Xiyue Wang, 38, a doctoral student at Princeton, was arrested in 2016. An Iranian scientist is being sent home in the exchange. — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday issued a one-week hold on a lower court order for President Trump’s bank records to be turned over to Congress.

The Obit Page: Ron Liebman, originally a stage actor who had a long career in film television, and, of course, on stage, has died at age 82. He was in the movie “Slaughterhouse-Five” and played a labor lawyer in the 1979 film “Norma Rae.” Liebman won a Tony Award for playing Roy Cohn, the ultra-conservative and closeted gay lawyer who was an aide to the communist-hunting Sen. Joseph McCarthy.  

Gotta Have Art: A collector has paid $120,000 for a banana duct-taped to a wall at the Art Basel show in Miami. It’s a commentary on the transitory nature of life and, evidently, of money. The work is called “Comedian.”

 Art Basel, by the way, which collects a crowd of the rich and beautiful including the Kardashians, is sometimes known as “The Running of Billionaires.”

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