White House Adviser Briefed in October on Underwear Bomb Technique  —  White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan was briefed in October on an assassination attempt by Al Qaeda that investigators now believe used the same underwear bombing technique as the Nigerian suspect who tried …

Low favorables: Dems rip Rasmussen  —  Democrats are turning their fire on Scott Rasmussen, the prolific independent pollster whose surveys on elections, President Obama's popularity and a host of other issues are surfacing in the media with increasing frequency.

A New Low... Charles Johnson Now Supporting Child Porn in Classrooms & Fisting Kits at School Functions  —  Sick.  Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs reached a new low yesterday.  —  Johnson attacked this blog for reporting again on Barack Obama's safe schools czar.

U.S. Sees Window to Pressure Iran on Nuclear Fuel  —  WASHINGTON — As President Obama faces pressure to back up his year-end ultimatum for diplomatic progress with Iran, the administration says that domestic unrest and signs of unexpected trouble in Tehran's nuclear program …

Why the Health-Care Bills Are Unconstitutional  —  If the government can mandate the purchase of insurance, it can do anything.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  President Obama's health-care bill is now moving toward final passage.  The policy issues may be coming to an end …

25 Blasphemous Quotations  —  1. Jesus Christ, when asked if he was the son of God, in Matthew 26:64: “Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”

Charges for cartoonist ‘attacker’  —  The 28-year-old Somali was carried into court on a stretcher  —  A Somali man has been charged with trying to kill a Danish artist whose drawing of the Prophet Mohammed sparked riots around the world.  —  The suspect, who was shot …

Barack Obama is vulnerable on terror - and he knows it  —  Barack Obama is playing politics over the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack and Republicans sense he is weak on the issue, writes Toby Harnden in Washington  —  In his weekly radio address yesterday, President Barack Obama patted himself …

Why the Budget Will Never Be Balanced  —  To review some recent political history, after Ronald Reagan's election in 1980, conservatives enacted budgetary measures that led to large and growing deficits.  These were scaled back to some extent on a bipartisan basis in the late 1980s and during …

Why Didn't They See It?  —  It will take some time before all the facts about the Christmas Day terrorism plot are known and analyzed.  One thing is already clear: The government has to urgently improve its ability to use the reams of intelligence it receives every day on suspected terrorists and plots.

Limbaugh: “Based On What Happened To Me I Don't Think There's One Thing Wrong With The American Health Care System”  —  First, let's be clear that I'm personally happy that Rush Limbaugh is in good condition and came through his scare beautifully.  Let's also be clear: Limbaugh is touting …

Secrets of the Economist's Trade: First, Purchase a Piggy Bank  —  Academic economists gather in Atlanta this weekend for their annual meetings, always held the first weekend after New Year's Day.  That's not only because it coincides with holidays at most universities.