Egypt Protests Turn Violent  —  Pro- and Anti-Mubarak Crowds Collide in the Worst Clashes Since Friday  —  We just got back to the hotel after trying to film on the bridge into Tahrir Square.  —  An angry mob surrounded us and chased us into the car shouting that they hate America.

Senate rejects healthcare repeal  —  The Senate on Wednesday voted down a repeal of President Obama's healthcare law in a 47-51 party-line vote.  —  The vote came two weeks to the day the Republican House voted 245-189 to repeal the law, and just days after a federal judge ruled Obama's …

McCain has rare 1-on-1 with Obama  —  With a “rapidly deteriorating” situation in Egypt, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had a rare one-on-one meeting at the White House with 2008 campaign rival Barack Obama to discuss policy in the Middle East and several other domestic issues.

Florida to Barack Obama: Keep your health care reform cash  —  No thanks.  That's what the state of Florida is saying to the Obama administration, declining a $1 million grant to implement the health law.  —  The move follows this week's federal court decision declaring the law unconstitutional.

White House reporters complain Obama is shutting them out  —  White House reporters criticized President Obama on Wednesday for providing too little information and access to the media during the crisis in Egypt.  —  In a letter to White House press secretary Robert Gibbs …

Democrats reach for the shiny object  —  Look At the Shiny Object  —  Yesterday Debbie Wasserman-Shultz came out swinging against the latest GOP assault on women, calling the new requirement that only those who are the victims of “forcible” rape be entitled to government funded abortion, “violence against women” and she's right.

Kirk Cites Al Gore's Personal Life As Impetus For Climate Flip-Flop  —  Back when he was a member of the House, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) was one of a few Republicans who voted for a far-reaching climate change bill.  That legislation quickly fueled Tea Party rage, and conservatives went on the attack against the plan's backers.

Why Oh Why Can't We Have a Better Press Corps?  (MIchael Fletcher of the Washington Post Edition)  —  Fresno, CA—along with much of the rest of the great Central Valley—has long had a structural unemployment problem.  Back at the start of the 1990s when the unemployment rate in the country …

SEIU fights healthcare repeal after obtaining waivers from law  —  The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is lobbying hard against the amendment offered by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) to repeal the healthcare reform law.  —  SEIU has sent e-mails …

WikiLeaks: US and China in military standoff over space missiles  —  The United States threatened to take military action against China during a secret “star wars” arms race within the past few years, according to leaked documents obtained by The Daily Telegraph.

Fund Official Not Neutral, Judge Rules  —  Kenneth R. Feinberg, the administrator of the $20 billion fund to compensate victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, should not claim that he is fully independent of BP, a federal judge overseeing litigation against the company ruled on Wednesday.

In Book, Rumsfeld Recalls Bush's Early Iraq Focus  —  WASHINGTON — Just 15 days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush invited his defense secretary, Donald H. Rumsfeld, to meet with him alone in the Oval Office.  According to Mr. Rumsfeld's new memoir …

Egypt Is A Very Large Proportion of the Arab World  —  I knew Egypt was the largest population of the Arab countries, but until I looked up the numbers I didn't realize how dramatically the demographics of the Arab world are weighted toward Egypt:  —  What's more, a healthy share of Iraqis …

Paul: Should the Tea Party compromise?  —  Washington (CNN) - During his first speech on the Senate floor, Tea Party champion Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, brought up what may be a dirty word for some of his constituents: compromise.  —  “Many ask will the Tea Party compromise?

We're All Terrorists Now  —  The Tennessee ACLU sent a letter to public schools warning them not to celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday.  The Tennessee Fusion Center (H/T Uncle) put the communication on its map of “terrorism events and other suspicious activity”: