Haley Barbour's Affection for the White Supremacist Citizens' Council  —  Andrew Ferguson's profile of Haley Barbour reveals that the guy is dangerously ignorant about the history of race in his state: … Fortunately, it's actually possible to look at the archives of the Citizens Council newspaper published right in Mississippi.

GOP senators concede arms treaty will secure enough votes to pass  —  Republican senators say privately they expect the Senate to ratify the New START treaty this week, which would hand President Obama his third major victory of the lame-duck session.  —  GOP senators — including those who plan …

Nina Totenberg: ‘I Was At - Forgive the Expression - a Christmas Party...’  —  “I was at - forgive the expression - a Christmas party,” NPR reporter Nina Totenberg interjected on Inside Washington in the weekend's oddest cautionary separation from a common description for a common event …

Poll: Obama rebounding  —  President Barack Obama may be staging a comeback in the eyes of the American people, a new poll suggests.  —  In a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Monday, 48 percent of Americans say they approve of how Obama is handling his job, while 48 percent disapprove.

60 Minutes' one-sided, GOP-friendly report on state budgets  —  Did Chris Cristie's speechwriters script this CBS report on state budget deficits?  It certainly reads that way.  —  In 2,600 words about state deficits, you won't find the phrase “tax cuts.”

The FCC's Threat to Internet Freedom  —  ‘Net neutrality’ sounds nice, but the Web is working fine now.  The new rules will inhibit investment, deter innovation and create a billable-hours bonanza for lawyers.  —  Tomorrow morning the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) …

My Token Moment of Outreach to the Religious Right  —  Ross Douthat: … I don't spend a lot of time agreeing with the Christian right about things, but the whining about the secularization of Christmas is a point I sympathize with.  If Christmas were more properly religious …

Nine years after the terrorist attacks of 2001, the United States is assembling a vast domestic intelligence apparatus to collect information about Americans, using the FBI, local police, state homeland security offices and military criminal investigators.  —  The system, by far the largest …

Chris Christie's Pepsi problem  —  In 1975, Pepsi unleashed “the Pepsi Challenge,” a blind taste test where subjects threw back an ounce of each beverage and reported back on their favorite.  Their favorite was Pepsi.  —  You already know what happened next: Coca-Cola developed a more Pepsi-like product called “New Coke.”

Paterson Fined $62,125 Over World Series Tickets  —  The state ethics commission has fined Gov. David A. Paterson $62,125 for soliciting and accepting five free tickets to the 2009 World Series from the New York Yankees.  —  The Commission on Public Integrity noted that the Yankees have …

When Zombies Win  —  When historians look back at 2008-10, what will puzzle them most, I believe, is the strange triumph of failed ideas.  Free-market fundamentalists have been wrong about everything — yet they now dominate the political scene more thoroughly than ever.  —  How did that happen?

Mitch McConnell plans power plays against Democrats  —  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has a warning for Democrats seething over his shrewd political tactics: Get used to it.  —  “There's much for them to be angst-ridden about,” McConnell said with a chuckle.  “If they think it's bad now, wait 'til next year.”

Republicans Start Teaching Members How to Obey the Constitution  —  Earlier today, some Hill staffers attended the first of four staggered meetings on how to write a new clause into legislation that explains why, exactly, the legislation is constitutional.  This was a big Tea Party demand …

TRENDING: Palin disses Michelle Obama over ‘dessert’  —  (CNN) - Sarah Palin is again taking aim at Michelle Obama over her anti-obesity campaign, taking the opportunity in Sunday's “Sarah Palin's Alaska” to land a diss against the first lady's efforts to improve nutrition.

Romney's Conservative Problem  —  Mitt Romney's been looking weaker and weaker in our 2012 Presidential polling over the last couple months and it's pretty easy to identify the reason why: he has a major problem with conservatives and there's no evidence it's getting any better.

Census data likely to bring more bad news for Democrats on Tuesday  —  Democrats are expected to get more bad news when the census data is released Tuesday.  —  Republicans netted 63 House seats in the 2010 election, and now several heavily Democratic states are projected …

The Culture War Ain't What It Used to Be.  —  Jonathan Bernstein makes an excellent point about the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell: … With the possible exception of John McCain, pretty much every conservative knew they were going to lose this argument eventually.