LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Forced Antigun March, RUSSIA, PA-18 and Much, Much More.

THE TRUTH ABOUT CARS: Buick responds to Jack Baruth’s inaugural “Buick Death Watch” column.

JOSH KRAUSHAAR: Democrats in Commanding Position to Win House.

At this point, there have been enough off-year elections, polling data, and candidate-recruiting successes to render a clear verdict: Democrats are solid favorites to retake the House this year. Conor Lamb’s performance in a conservative, blue-collar Pennsylvania congressional district is simply the latest evidence that the makings of a perfect political storm are in play for 2018: energized Democratic turnout, apathetic Republican engagement, and suburban independents (particularly women) running away from the GOP.

The race-by-race tally also suggests the potential of a significant Democratic wave. There are now a whopping 47 Republican-held House seats that are rated as vulnerable by The Cook Political Report; Democrats need to win only around half of them (24) to take back the majority. Pennsylvania’s new congressional map could easily net Democrats five or six seats in the state. Without a competitive gubernatorial and Senate race in California, seven GOP-held seats in the state are at risk of flipping. Those two states alone get Democrats halfway back to power.

I wouldn’t say that the Democrats’ position is “commanding,” but I have been saying for over a year now that I wish the GOP majority would legislate like there’s no tomorrow — because there might not be one.

Also, doing so would give skeptical GOP voters the enthusiasm to turn out in enough numbers to keep the House.

ELECTRIC LEMONS: Tesla employees say automaker is churning out a high volume of flawed parts requiring costly rework.

Tesla’s future as a mass-market carmaker hinges on efficient, automated production of the Model 3, which more than 400,000 people have already reserved, paying $1,000 refundable fees to do so. Musk said in July 2017 that Tesla would probably be making 20,000 Model 3s per month by December.

The company then later downgraded those expectations. It currently says it will make 2,500 per week by the end of this month and 5,000 per week by the end of June.

One current Tesla engineer estimated that 40 percent of the parts made or received at its Fremont factory require rework. The need for reviews of parts coming off the line, and rework, has contributed to Model 3 delays, the engineer said.

Another current employee from Tesla’s Fremont factory said the company’s defect rate is so high that it’s hard to hit production targets. Inability to hit the numbers is in turn hurting employee morale.

Not good — especially given that established automakers with centuries of cumulative experience in mass manufacturing are getting serious about electric vehicles.

PROCUREMENT: Lockheed F-35 Cost Stabilizes at $406 Billion, Pentagon Says.

The Pentagon’s estimated cost to develop and purchase Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 jet, the costliest U.S. weapons program, has stabilized for now, according to a new report to Congress.

The total acquisition cost for the advanced fighter is projected at $406.1 billion, virtually unchanged from the $406.5 billion estimated last year, according to the Defense Department’s latest Selected Acquisition Report, which will be sent to Congress this week. The projections were obtained in advance by Bloomberg News.

Within the total — which includes research, development and initial support such as spare parts and military construction — the estimated cost to procure 2,456 U.S. aircraft has ticked down to $345.4 billion from $346.1 billion, or a 0.2 percent decline.

A billion dollars here and a billion dollars there, and pretty soon you’re talking real savings.

BILL WHITTLE: “The problem with California is Californians.”

A FEATURE, NOT A BUG: Florida’s 2018 Legislature was the least productive in two decades.

They misspelled “least harmful.”

THE SUICIDE OF THE WEST (CONT’D): German Court Orders Volkswagen Rehire Suspected ISIS Recruiter Who Told Coworkers They’d ‘All Die.’

BREAKING: Famous Actor Got Paid More Than Less-Famous Actor in ‘The Crown.’

BUT OF COURSE: ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ Director Ava DuVernay Uses Racism to Explain Away Bad Reviews.

I’d been waiting for this movie since the third grade; what a shame they made such a hash of it.

YOU HARDLY EVER SEE THIS HAPPEN ANYMORE: Man Dressed As Elsa From ‘Frozen’ Pushes Police Wagon Out Of Snow.

TRIGGER DISCIPLINE: Seaside High teacher accidentally fires gun in class, students injured.

Dennis Alexander was teaching a course about gun safety for his Administration of Justice class when his gun went off at 1:20 p.m.

Alexander was pointing his gun at the ceiling when it fired. Pieces of the ceiling fell to the ground.

A news release from the Seaside Police Department said no one suffered “serious injuries.” One 17-year-old boy suffered moderate injuries when fragments from the bullet ricocheted off the ceiling and lodged into his neck, the student’s father, Fermin Gonzales, told KSBW.

The teacher had just told the class that he wanted to make sure his gun wasn’t loaded, when the gun fired, according to Gonzales.

Every gun is loaded.

BREAKING: Feds Charge Former Equifax Executive with Dumping Stock Ahead of Data Breach Announcement.

BUT DID ANYONE NOTICE? MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, Comedy Central Suspend Programming in Support of Anti-Gun National Walkout.

If going dark is Viacom’s way of pandering to its core audience, I say: Pander away!

NEWS YOU CAN USE? The Nine Types of Craft Beer Drinkers Who Will Drive You Nuts.

Say what you will about certain craft devotees, but we’re living in a Golden Age of beer.

PITY THE KURDS: Turkish forces surround Kurdish town in northern Syria.

Turkey launched its assault on the border enclave on Jan. 20 to drive out Syrian Kurdish forces that it views as “terrorists” linked to Kurdish rebels fighting inside Turkey. The Turkish military said the siege of Afrin, the main town in the enclave of the same name, began Monday after the military took control of “critical areas.”

A passage out of Afrin remained partially open, and thousands of people have reportedly fled the town, heading toward nearby areas controlled by the Syrian government. Syria’s Al-Ikhbariya TV showed cars, trucks and tractors loaded with civilians driving out of the town.

Panic was spreading in the town as the Turkish forces approached, and some civilians came under fire when they tried to leave, according to residents and Syrian Kurdish officials.

That’s a war crime, and if true provides evidence that Ankara is conducting ethnic cleansing rather than anti-terror operations.

Related: The Missed Kurdish Moment.

NOT GOOD: Ford is recalling nearly 1.4 million midsize cars in North America because the steering wheel can detach from the steering column and drivers could lose control.

Intermittent steering is not a frequently sought-after option.

PAULA BOLYARD: Some solid parental responses to the school walkout.

I’M GUESSING THIS IS NOT AN UNCOMMON CONCLUSION: I Don’t Buy Joy Behar’s Apology To Christians.

Behar didn’t seem to move on the issue, however, until another interesting piece of news popped up.

Oprah Winfrey, arguably the most powerful woman in America and number one on the Democrats presidential wish list, also believes in God, and practices her faith in much the same way Pence does.

Suddenly, Behar couldn’t apologize for her myopic mouth fast enough. I’ll let Kira Davis give you the details of her apology, as she covered them here, but the summary is that she apologized to Pence personally, then took his advice and apologized to Christians on The View.

I want to believe Behar’s apology is truthful and sincere, but I just can’t. For one, she didn’t seem concerned about Pence or Christian attitudes until Oprah counted herself among their ranks. Suddenly Behar is all about Christians.

In fact, she revealed she is one herself!

This sudden acceptance is a stark break from her in the past, as not only was she venomous toward Christians when striking out at Pence, she previously compared Christians to the Taliban for being pro-life.

Behar was never a great actress, and clearly “devout” and “contrite” are outside her range.

HEALTH: Doctors shocked by 3.5-inch air bubble where part of man’s brain should be.

JOHN MCCAIN: CIA Nominee ‘Needs to Explain the Nature and Extent of Her Involvement’ in Torture.

SPACE: A super-Earth around a red star could be wet and wild. “Astronomers have spotted a potentially habitable exoplanet around a bright dwarf star. Odds are good we’ll hear more about K2-155d in the future.”

WELL, GOOD: The Navy’s Virginia-Class Attack Subs Just Became More Lethal. “The Virginia-class Block V submarines will be longer than previously built Virginia-class subs, to accommodate four Virginia Payload Module tubes, which will each contain seven Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs).”

The Block V boats are meant to replace the striking power the Navy is losing as its aging fleet of four Ohio-class SSGNs are retired.

NOT AGAIN: A raft of flaws in AMD chips makes bad hacks much, much worse. “AMD says its Secure Processor is impenetrable. Instead, it can harbor malware.”

THAT’S A LOT OF KIDS: UCLA Hecklers Accuse Treasury Sec. Mnuchin of Sentencing ‘9 Billion Children’ to Death.