Officials: U.S. Aware of Hasan Efforts to Contact al Qaeda  —  Army Major in Fort Hood Massacre Used ‘Electronic Means’ to Connect with Terrorists  —  U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda …

Paranoia Strikes Deep  —  Last Thursday there was a rally outside the U.S. Capitol to protest pending health care legislation, featuring the kinds of things we've grown accustomed to, including large signs showing piles of bodies at Dachau with the caption “National Socialist Healthcare.”

Life After the End of History  —  For most of the last century, the West faced real enemies: totalitarian, aggressive, armed to the teeth.  Between 1918 and 1989, it was possible to believe that liberal democracy was a parenthesis in history, destined to be undone by revolution …

Tears, tempers fly in Pelosi campaign  —  One by one, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had leaned on her rank-and-file Democrats for months to cast off personal prerogatives for the sake of a history-making health care bill.  —  But for Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, this was too much to ask.

Club Endorses Rubio  —  It's official: the Club for Growth has endorsed conservative upstart Marco Rubio in Florida's Senate race, over moderate Gov. Charlie Crist (R).  —  This should come as a surprise to no one: Rubio has been accumulating national support from conservatives since the beginning of his campaign.

Alleged Fort Hood Shooter Frequented Local Strip Club  —  KILLEEN, Texas — The Army psychiatrist authorities say killed 13 people and wounded 29 others at the Fort Hood Army Base Thursday was a recent and frequent customer at a local strip club, employees of the club told FoxNews.com exclusively.

Economists Seek to Fix a Defect in Data That Overstates the Nation's Vigor  —  WASHINGTON — A widening gap between data and reality is distorting the government's picture of the country's economic health, overstating growth and productivity in ways that could affect the political debate on issues like trade, wages and job creation.

Huckabee says he's ‘very serious’  —  The day the Gallup Organization confirmed Mike Huckabee's status as the pollsters' front-runner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, the former Arkansas governor was slouched in the back of his tour bus, somewhere between Harrisburg and Allentown …

A new mayor in Charlotte  —  The Charlotte Observer's Mary Newsom writes:  —  Amid the bloviation-fest following Tuesday's election, Charlotte's mayoral election seems to have kept on flying under the national political radar.  Odd.  —  Think about it: A young African-American Democrat …

The GOP's women problem  —  Conservatives say they pushed Dede Scozzafava out of the House race in New York's 23rd District a week ago because of her left-of-Republican social views — and not because she is a woman.  —  But the growing schism between the Republican Party's ascendant right wing …

Murdoch may block Google searches  —  Charles Arthur: Murdoch's threat unlikely to worry Google  —  Rupert Murdoch says he will remove stories from Google's search index as a way to encourage people to pay for content online.  —  In an interview with Sky News Australia …

Shake-up at WashTimes; three executives out  —  The Washington Times has announced major changes at the paper this morning, with three top executives gone in the process.  —  Those removed Monday morning include Thomas P. McDevitt (president and publisher), Keith Cooperrider (chief financial officer), and Dong Moon Joo (chairman).

Fred Hiatt on stepping closer to universal health care — and bankruptcy  —  The House passage of health-care reform Saturday night should be a moment of celebration.  In a country as wealthy as America, no one should have to go without medical care.  As in other developed nations …

58% Say Next President Likely To Be Republican  —  Fifty-eight percent (58%) of likely voters say it is at least somewhat likely the next president of the United States will be a Republican, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Another Independent could be the spoiler as Reid moves forward  —  With a pronounced independent streak to match his political alignment, Bernie Sanders of Vermont may be another headache for Democrats trying to cobble together 60 votes for healthcare reform in the coming weeks.