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.

Charles Krauthammer Rips Liberal Media for Being Obsessed with Sarah Palin  —  Charles Krauthammer on Friday tore into the liberal media for being obsessed with former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.  —  After Krauthammer scolded the “editorial judgment” of the producers of PBS's “Inside Washington” …

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.

Feds: Somali-born teen plotted car-bombing in Ore.  —  PORTLAND, Ore. - Federal agents in a sting operation arrested a Somali-born teenager just as he tried blowing up a van he believed was loaded with explosives at a crowded Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, authorities said.

Christopher Hitchens vs. Tony Blair: the full transcript  —  “Be it resolved, religion is a force for good in the world”  —  You may need to set aside the rest of your Saturday to get through this, but here in full is the transcript of the long-anticipated Munk debate between Christopher Hitchens and former prime minister Tony Blair.

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 …

First Greece, then Ireland - Europe's debt problem has gone from bad to worse  —  After German Chancellor Angela Merkel's comments on bondholders, the single currency finds itself skidding ever closer to collapse.  —  Another week, another crisis for the euro.  In April, the single currency wobbled as Greece was rescued.

Asking China to Act Like the U.S.  —  WASHINGTON — A fundamental tenet of foreign policy says that nations will seldom voluntarily act against what they have determined, for whatever reason, to be their own national interest.  —  Somebody needs to tell that to the United States when it comes to China, many foreign policy experts say.

United Nations climate talks in limbo  —  Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), co-author of several unsuccessful cap-and-trade bills over the past decade, suggested an under-the-radar approach could yield results.  —  “Perhaps what Copenhagen has contributed to this moment, pre-Cancun, is low expectations,” Lieberman said.

Willie Nelson Freed After Drug Arrest  —  SIERRA BLANCA, Texas (AP) — A U.S. Border Patrol spokesman says country singer Willie Nelson was charged with marijuana possession after 6 ounces was found aboard his tour bus in Texas.  —  Patrol spokesman Bill Brooks says the bus pulled into the Sierra Blanca …

Number of the Week: 492 Days From Default to Foreclosure  —  492: The number of days since the average borrower in foreclosure last made a mortgage payment.  —  Banks can't foreclose fast enough to keep up with all the people defaulting on their mortgage loans.

Nancy Pelosi may go to Nobel peace award  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is mulling a trip to Oslo to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for a jailed Chinese dissident.  —  The California Democrat might fly to Norway in December as the Nobel Institute bestows one of its highest honors to Liu Xiaobo …

A Nuclear Standoff With Libya  —  In November 2009, six years after the government of Libya first agreed to disarm its nuclear weapons program, Libyan nuclear workers wheeled the last of their country's highly enriched uranium out in front of the Tajoura nuclear facility, just east of Tripoli.