Cables Obtained by WikiLeaks Shine Light Into Secret Diplomatic Channels  —  WASHINGTON — A cache of a quarter-million confidential American diplomatic cables, most of them from the past three years, provides an unprecedented look at backroom bargaining by embassies around the world …

The FBI successfully thwarts its own Terrorist plot  —  The FBI is obviously quite pleased with itself over its arrest of a 19-year-old Somali-American, Mohamed Osman Mohamud, who — with months of encouragement, support and money from the FBI's own undercover agents — allegedly attempted …

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.

The Country's Wealthiest Men: No, Really, Tax Us More!  —  Not that this will matter to the congressional Republicans, whose agenda is not actually improving the economy nor listening to economists, the wealthiest 2%, or any other American, come to that.  But the country's wealthiest men …

Democratic South finally falls  —  For Democrats in the South, the most ominous part of a disastrous year may not be what happened on Election Day but what has happened in the weeks since.  —  After suffering a historic rout — in which nearly every white Deep South Democrat in the U.S. House …

Small-town Iowa embraces Grinnell's gay, black president  —  Grinnell, Ia.  — When Grinnell College's new president, Raynard Kington, bikes over to the Danish Maid Bakery a few blocks off campus, he doesn't play the VIP card.  —  He doesn't mention the medical degree he earned at 21 or his centuries-old vacation home in Crete.

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.

Got to Get This Right  —  On Nov. 19, Rasmussen Reports published results from a national telephone poll that showed that 47 percent of America's likely voters said the nation's “best days are in the past,” 37 percent said they are in the future.  Sixteen percent were undecided.

Presidential historian curses, calls Americans ‘lazy and obese’  —  Presidential biographer Edmund Morris delivered one of the more, well, colorful lines on this week's Sunday morning shows.  —  On CBS's “Face the Nation,” host Bob Schieffer, anchoring an authors roundtable discussion …

Why the TSA pat-downs and body scans are unconstitutional  —  The protest on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving was called National Opt-Out Day, and its organizers urged air travelers to refuse the Transportation Security Administration's full-body scanning machines.  —  But many appeared to have opted out of opting out.

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 …