Still the Best Congress Money Can Buy  —  SO America's latest crisis — until it wasn't — was airport screeners touching our junk.  As this long year lurches toward its end, we all agree that something has gone wrong in America, and we're desperately casting about for a coherent explanation for our discontent, if not a scapegoat.

McCain wants ‘regime change’ in North Korea  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is calling for “regime change” in North Korea - and blames the recent crisis on the failings of Pyongyang's lone international supporter, China.  —  “It's time we talked about regime change in North Korea …

A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web  —  SHOPPING online in late July, Clarabelle Rodriguez typed the name of her favorite eyeglass brand into Google's search bar.  —  In moments, she found the perfect frames — made by a French company called Lafont — on a Web site that looked snazzy and stood at the top of the search results.

Former Republican Sen. Warns GOP May ‘Have Gone So Far Overboard That We Are Beyond Redemption’  —  In an age when far-right tea party activists have taken over the Republican Party and demanded lockstep allegiance, Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) has been one of the few GOP lawmakers to step out of line.

A G.O.P. Chairman Seeks New Power for U.S. Watchdogs  —  WASHINGTON — The Republican who will lead the chief investigative committee in the House is planning to vastly expand scrutiny of the Obama administration by seeking new subpoena powers for dozens of federal agency watchdogs in hopes …

Ex-Justice Criticizes Death Penalty  —  WASHINGTON — In 1976, just six months after he joined the Supreme Court, Justice John Paul Stevens voted to reinstate capital punishment after a four-year moratorium.  With the right procedures, he wrote, it is possible to ensure “evenhanded …

Ictu questions bailout terms  —  The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) has said that the country cannot afford to pay the terms of the proposed €85 billion EU/IMF bailout package.  —  Addressing the large-scale rally against the Government's planed austerity measures in Dublin today …

Despite Alaska Senate race results, Joe Miller presses on in principle  —  Much of America may have moved on, but Joe Miller has not.  More than a week after the last vote was counted in Alaska's closely watched U.S. Senate race, the Republican nominee continues to press his case in court …

Helena Christensen calls for action on climate change  —  Climate change is like ‘groundhog day’ for poor people suffering floods and droughts year after year as the temperature rises, Helena Christensen has said after visiting communities hit by extreme weather.

The GOP's other Election Day victory  —  The conventional wisdom has already settled like a blanket over Washington.  Allegedly, Hispanics flocked to the polls to punish Republicans for the Arizona immigration law.  They “saved” the Senate for Democrats.  And on and on.  The conventional wisdom, however, is wrong.

Simon Says  —  That Fat Lip Might Give Obama Some Street Cred … Gauze in hand, President Barack Obama walks to his car after the game of basketball Friday at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C.  —  Just three weeks after getting a shellacking in the midterm elections, President Obama got a fat lip.

The Fiscal Trap  —  Over at the Weekly Standard, Larry Lindsey makes a very important point, pertinent to both the QE2 debate and the conversation in recent weeks about various proposals to reduce the deficit and debt.  Most of the baseline assumptions about the size of our debt assume …