Obama Cites ‘Systemic Failure’ in U.S. Security  —  HONOLULU - President Obama on Tuesday blamed a “systemic failure” in the nation's security apparatus for the attempted bombing of a passenger jet on Christmas Day and vowed to identify the problems and “deal with them immediately.”

Rove granted divorce in Texas  —  Karl Rove, former senior adviser to President George W. Bush, has been granted a divorce in Texas after 24 years of marriage, a family spokesperson said.  —  Dana Perino, the spokesperson, said: “Karl Rove and his wife, Darby, were granted a divorce last week.

Skittish Democrats Refuse To Defend Obama On National Security  —  Are Democrats so cowed by Republican attacks on Obama's foreign policy that they're unwilling to defend him?  —  It's now been five days since the attempted bombing of Flight 253 in Detroit, and Congressional Democrats …

Power of Attorney  —  Your new book, “Crisis and Command,” is an eloquent, fact-laden history of audacious power grabs by American presidents going back to George Washington.  Which president would you say most violated laws enacted by Congress?  —  I would say Lincoln.

Move Your Money: A New Year's Resolution  —  Last week, over a pre-Christmas dinner, the two of us, along with political strategist Alexis McGill, filmmaker/author Eugene Jarecki, and Nick Penniman of the HuffPost Investigative Fund, began talking about the huge, growing chasm between …

Published Document States Khamenei Is Planning to Escape to Russia ...Update: Khamenei's Jet Put on Standby  —  A letter published on the Iranian websites claims that Ayatollah Khamenei is planning a possible escape to Russia.  —  There were rumors floating around yesterday that Ayatollah Khamenei was preparing to flee Iran.

Yes, Byron, The GOP Deserves Blame, But You Need to Go Further  —  Byron York's article in the Washington Examiner highlights Republican shortcomings in recent years causing the shift to a Democrat-controlled Congress.  While I agree with some of his points, I think York needs to go further with a few critical elements.

Obama greater than Jesus  —  The U.S. president - the practical saviour of our times  —  He is provocative in insisting on an outstretched hand, where others only see animosity.  —  His tangible results in the short time that he has been active - are few and far between.

Medicare vs. Medicaid: A Stark Warning About Having States Execute Reform  —  Political map of the United States, ca.  2002 (source: Univ. of Texas at Austin)  —  The Social Security Act of 1965 created two public insurance programs, Medicare and Medicaid.  One proved to be a big success, and the other, not so much.

The Cash Committee: How Wall Street Wins On The Hill  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  The question was simple: Should the lending practices of auto dealers be regulated?  —  It was already October and the 42 Democrats and 29 Republicans on the House Committee on Financial Services had spent …

Sen. Feinstein: Halt transfers to Yemen  —  The senior Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee wants no more Guantanamo Bay detainees released to Yemen in the wake of a Christmas day terrorist attack hatched in that country.  —  “Guantanamo detainees should not be released to Yemen at this time …

Obama takes the heat Bush did not  —  Eight years ago, a terrorist bomber's attempt to blow up a transatlantic airliner was thwarted by a group of passengers, an incident that revealed some gaping holes in airline security just a few months after the attacks of September 11.

Obama Moves to Curb Federal Secrets  —  Move Expected to Declassify more than 400 Million Pages of Cold War-Ear Documents  —  (AP) President Barack Obama on Tuesday ordered the federal government to rethink how it protects the nation's secrets, in a move that was expected to declassify …

Iran issues ‘punch’ warning to UK  —  Britain has been given a warning by Iran's foreign minister that it will receive “a punch on the mouth” if it does not “stop the nonsense”.  —  Manouchehr Mottaki responded after UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband hailed the “great courage” of Iranians who staged opposition protests on Sunday.