An Open Letter to Republican Freshmen Members of Congress  —  Welcome to all Republican Freshmen and congratulations!  —  Congratulations to all of you for your contribution to this historic election, and for the contributions I am certain you will make to our country in the next two years.

House Dems Avert Leadership Battle  —  WASHINGTON — House Democrats averted a messy leadership struggle Friday night, clearing the way for Speaker Nancy Pelosi to remain in a top position and preventing a battle between other representatives as the party becomes the minority.

Myanmar frees opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi  —  The Nobel laureate greets a jubilant crowd outside her home after being held in detention for 15 years by the country's military rulers.  She promises to speak at greater length Sunday.  The conditions of her release are not immediately clear.

Murkowski on track to win on write-ins  —  CHALLENGES: Miller camp raises questions of election integrity.  —  scockerham@adn.com  —  JUNEAU — The Division of Elections has finished reviewing the write-in ballots for nearly three-quarters of the precincts, and the results show Lisa Murkowski …

WHEN THE 'WATER'S EDGE' STANDARD DISAPPEARS.... If our political system made more sense, this would be an astounding scandal that would dominate the discourse. … This just isn't normal.  Laura Rozen called the meeting itself “unusual, if not unheard of.”  But it's what Cantor said that's astounding.

American Narcissus  —  The vanity of Barack Obama  —  Why has Barack Obama failed so spectacularly?  Is he too dogmatically liberal or too pragmatic?  Is he a socialist, or an anticolonialist, or a philosopher-president?  Or is it possible that Obama's failures stem from something simpler: vanity.

Redistricting Hype Blurs Reality  —  Gerrymandering isn't all it is cracked up to be.  —  Republicans' broad gains at the state level in last week's election should give them a major advantage over Democrats when it comes to deciding how to divvy up congressional districts.

Britain's top soldier says al-Qaeda cannot be beaten  —  The new head of Britain's armed forces, Gen Sir David Richards, has warned that the West cannot defeat al-Qaeda and militant Islam.  —  He said defeating Islamist militancy was “unnecessary and would never be achieved”.

Nicer Emanuel woos Chicago voters  —  CHICAGO — In a city known for its cutthroat politics, Rahm Emanuel's first public approach to winning the votes and, perhaps more importantly, the hearts of Chicago voters is as simple as it is disarming: be nice.  —  It's not a usual pose for a man …

Cindy McCain is a hater - reverses self on DADT 24 hours after doing video linking the gay ban to gay youth suicide  —  With all due respect, Cindy McCain is a liar.  The only question is when she lied - today, or yesterday.  —  Yesterday, Cindy McCain - the wife of US Senator John McCain …

Backers of Legal Marijuana Find Silver Lining in Defeat of California Measure  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Proposition 19, which would have legalized marijuana in California, received more votes than the Republican nominee for governor, Meg Whitman.  —  It also received untold news coverage …

Expert: past 10 days have been worst of President Obama's ‘political life’  —  WASHINGTON - President Obama is coming home from his overseas trip pretty much empty-handed.  —  After watching his party take a beating in the midterm elections, Obama wasn't able to secure even a symbolic victory …

Obama's iPad: iReggie  —  Washington (CNN) - Apparently President Obama doesn't need an iPad; he's got an aide for that: iReggie.  —  At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' retreat in Yokohama, Japan, on Saturday, a print pool reporter was within earshot of a brief exchange between …

For Catholics, Interest in Exorcism Is Revived  —  The rite of exorcism, rendered gory by Hollywood and ridiculed by many modern believers, has largely fallen out of favor in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States.  —  There are only a handful of priests in the country trained as exorcists …