Mystery Missile Launch Seen off Calif. Coast  —  Military Mum on Nature of “Big Missile” Rising Out of Pacific - a Possible Show of U.S. Military Might  —  (CBS) A mysterious missile launch off the southern California coast was caught by CBS affiliate KCBS's cameras Monday night …

Sarah Palin, Media Critic  —  The former veep candidate (and journalism major) misleads readers on the WSJ with selective quotes  —  Aw, shucks.  —  Sarah Palin is “just a former governor and current housewife from Alaska, but even humble folks like (her) can read the newspaper.”  —  Reading's one thing.

Cantor, Republicans signal Obama tax proposal is dead in the water  —  The Obama administration's hopes of reaching a tax deal with Republicans that would decouple rates on the rich from the middle class appear dead.  —  House GOP Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) threw cold water on the proposed plan …

For Indonesia and Obama, 4th Time's the Charm  —  JAKARTA, Indonesia — It is the presidential homecoming that wasn't meant to be.  —  Enlarge This Image  —  President Obama during a news conference with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia on Tuesday in Jakarta.

Ted Rall Book Excerpt: Let's Kill Some Christians and Tea Partiers  —  Ted Rall has a new book out titled The Anti-American Manifesto.  In it he makes an explicit call for a violent socialist revolution from within.  In case you think this is all a big joke, here's an excerpt from the book:

Justice source: No charges to be brought for destruction of CIA tapes  —  Washington (CNN) — Criminal charges will not be brought in the Justice Department's long-running investigation of the destruction of CIA videotapes of terrorism detainee interrogations, a senior Justice Department source said Tuesday.

A New Bush, a Lot Like the Old One  —  He said he still felt sickened that no weapons of mass destruction were ever found in Iraq.  Yet former President George W. Bush said that his worst moment in the Oval Office came when the rap star Kanye West claimed that the president didn't care about black people.

DADT Repeal and the McConnell Way  —  Looks like Republicans aren't going to back down on their threat to filibuster a defense appropriations bill unless it's stripped of Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal legislation, and it looks like Democrats are going to cave.  —  Just as a pure political spectacle here, this is a thing to behold.

Republicans May Yet Have Upper Hand in Senate  —  On paper, the numbers tell you the Democrats held on to a majority in the Senate last week.  —  In reality, things won't be quite that neat.  In fact, on some issues the Republicans actually may have a functional majority …

In Alaska, a preview of the GOP's future  —  Alaska is darker in winter, colder all year and less densely populated than any other state.  Alaskans are unique, too: They enjoy a higher level of per capita federal spending than anyone else in the union, as well as a state constitution …

Alvin Greene mulls presidential bid  —  'Maybe.  I'll have to see,' Alvin Greene said about running for president.  —  Alvin Greene might run for president.  —  Greene, the unlikely Democratic Senate nominee in South Carolina who lost overwhelmingly to Republican Sen. Jim DeMint last week …

U.S. Report Faults Christie, as Prosecutor, on Hotel Stays  —  WASHINGTON — When he was a top federal prosecutor, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey routinely billed taxpayers for hotel stays whose cost exceeded government guidelines, according to a report the Justice Department released on Monday.

Hoyer picks up support from senior Dems  —  House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) picked up endorsements from five more senior Democrats on Tuesday in his battle against Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) for the position of minority whip.  —  A total of seven Democratic committee leaders …

Obama's Best Speech  —  In India, the president defended free markets, free trade and free societies.  —  Every now and then a columnist ought to shock and dismay his most faithful readers.  So here goes: Barack Obama gave a terrific speech yesterday to India's parliament …

My Application for Peter Thiel  —  Via Twitter, I see that one of the questions Peter Thiel asks applicants to his fellowship program (which unlike some of his philanthropic endeavors sounds to me like a totally good idea) is “Tell us one thing about the world that you strongly believe is true, but that most people think is not true.”

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — November 2010  —  The November 2010 tracking poll was conducted in the days following the mid-term election that resulted in major gains for Republicans, including a shift in control of the House of Representatives.  The survey attempts to gauge …

What Do People Think A Third Party President Would Do?  —  Ben McGrath's discussion of the endless discussion of a Michael Bloomberg third party presidential bid is appropriately arch, but still doesn't, I think, quite get at the core madness of this talk:

Proficiency of Black Students Is Found to Be Far Lower Than Expected  —  An achievement gap separating black from white students has long been documented — a social divide extremely vexing to policy makers and the target of one blast of school reform after another.

Obama Approval Advances to 47%, Up From 43% Pre-Election  —  Weekly average of 45% and demographic support patterns are unchanged  —  PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama earned a 47% approval rating from the American public in Gallup Daily tracking from Friday through Sunday …

And the GOP primary numbers...  PPP numbers looking ahead to the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination contest in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania find Mitt Romney looking strong in New England and the West and Mike Huckabee with a slight edge in the Midwest.