Observer Exclusive: Newsweek and Daily Beast to Merge  —  Newsweek and The Daily Beast will announce tomorrow morning that the two publications will merge, a source close to the deal tells The Observer.  —  It will be a 50-50 merger of the two companies.  The editorial staffs will combine under …

Fairly Understanding the Simpson-Bowles Social Security Proposal  —  Co-chairs Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles of President Obama's Fiscal Responsibility Commission surprised the political world Wednesday when they publicly released their own (as opposed to a full commission) …

How strong is Joe Miller's argument against the Leeza Markovsky vote? … Like This Story … - Shafer: Why Do We Give Away So Much of Our Privacy on the Web?  - Oklahoma Tried To Invalidate Islamic Wills.  What Is an Islamic Will?  - Steve Jobs Reinvented Technology …

Sources: Pelosi Says Obama Must Be ‘Perfect’ to Win Again  —  Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democratic leaders Wednesday afternoon that President Barack Obama has to be “perfect” to win a second term, several senior Democratic aides told Roll Call.  —  Pelosi told leaders on a conference call …

Liberals plan to push Obama not to compromise with GOP  —  On the heels of the Democratic Party's huge losses in last week's midterm elections, liberal activists have begun planning to push President Obama on a series of issues, demanding that he not cede any ground to Republicans.

I Owe Bruce Bartlett an Apology  —  Back when Bush 43 was President, I was a huge fan of Bruce Bartlett.  I especially loved his book Impostor.  But when Bartlett broke with the Republicans back in 2008, it seemed to me that he had gone “from being inside the tent pissing out to being outside the tent pissing in.”

Clinton Offers Netanyahu Security Pledge  —  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel's security requirements will be fully taken into account in any future peace deal with the Palestinians.  —  Clinton and the visiting Israeli …

Chris Christie's Star Turn Raises National Prospects, Nearly $9 Million for GOP … The unlikely emergence of Chris Christie proves once again that you can never tell who is going to take off in the public imagination.  The New Jersey governor not only rocked on the 2010 campaign trail …

Cindy McCain does video opposing DADT, accuses ‘our government’ of sending signal that bullying is okay - her hubbie is the lead defender of DADT  —  John McCain is leading the filibuster against the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” “repeal” legislation in the Senate (it's not an actual repeal, but we'll leave that for another time).

Sarah Palin plans heartland tour  —  Sarah Palin — accompanied at times by family members — later this month will launch a nine-day, 16-stop signing tour for her new book, “America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag.”  —  Among the destinations sure to get buzz: Des Moines and Spirit Lake, Iowa.

Glenn Beck's Anti-Semitic Attacks  —  The Fox host's stunning two-day tirade against George Soros is a new low on American television.  Michelle Goldberg on the roots of his hatred—and the Anti-Defamation League's shameful silence.  —  Anti-Semitism, like all ideologies, tells a story about the world.

Some Muslims Attending Capitol Hill Prayer Group Have Terror Ties, Probe Reveals  —  An Al Qaeda leader, the head of a designated terror organization and a confessed jihadist-in-training are among a “Who's Who” of controversial figures who have participated in weekly prayer sessions …

Rep.-elect West says conservative talk radio host won't be his chief of staff  —  Rep.-elect Allen West (R-Fla.) announced Thursday that a controversial radio host would not serve as his chief of staff after all.  —  West said in a statement that Joyce Kaufman, the conservative radio talk show host …

2012 Contenders to Bet Against  —  I'm not quite sure whom I'd call the odds-on favorite to capture the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.  But I have a pretty good idea of who I'd bet against.  —  The table below compiles a number of statistics related to prospective G.O.P. candidates in 2012.

Does This Google Veterans Day Logo Look Muslim to You?  —  Boy howdy, Google has done it now!  The company's special Veterans Day logo this year, you see, features a mysterious crescent shape.  And you know who loves crescent shapes?  The Muslims.  Yeah, some people are actually upset about this.

Bobby Jindal talks about Barack Obama in new book  —  NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal uses a new book to portray President Obama as disconnected from the Gulf oil spill, charging that he was more focused on the political aftermath than the actual impact of the crisis.

It's “Otb” Time: One-Term Barack  —  The wreckage of the Democratic Party is strewn just about everywhere.  President Obama's carefully constructed 2008 Electoral College breakthrough is now just broken, a long-ago memory of what might have been a lasting shift in partisan alignment.

If U.S. Won't Prosecute Bush, at Least 145 Other Countries Should  —  “Former President George W. Bush not only admits - he boasts - of having authorized the practice of known as waterboarding.  A total of 145 other countries are signatories to the U.N. Convention Against Torture.