The Gingrich Tragedy  —  Of all the major Republicans, the one who comes closest to my worldview is Newt Gingrich.  Despite his erratically shifting views and odd phases, he continually returns to this core political refrain: He talks about using government in energetic but limited ways to increase growth, dynamism and social mobility.

Europe's great divorce  —  WE JOURNALISTS are probably too bleary-eyed after a sleepless night to understand the full significance of what has just happened in Brussels.  What is clear is that after a long, hard and rancorous negotiation, at about 5am this morning the European Union split in a fundamental way.

Oops: Perry Forgets Justice Sotomayor's Name  —  Echoing his devastating “oops” moment in an earlier GOP debate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) forgot the name of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor in an interview today with the Des Moines Register editorial board.  He had to be assisted by a reporter who offered the jurist's name.

Ron Paul: 9/11 prompted “glee” in Bush administration  —  Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul said Thursday evening that Bush administration officials were gleeful after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks because it gave them a pretext to invade Iraq.  —  “Just think of what happened after 9/11.

The Real G.O.P. Dark Horse: None of the Above  —  Two of my favorite analysts, Rhodes Cook and Josh Putnam, have a good debate going about just how plausible it is that a Republican who is not currently running for president could enter the race later and potentially win it (probably necessitating a brokered convention).

Labor Board Drops Case Against Boeing  —  A top official with the National Labor Relations Board announced on Friday that the agency was dropping its politically charged case against Boeing, in which the agency had accused the company of violating federal labor law by opening a new aircraft production plant in South Carolina.

House GOP releases payroll tax package under Obama veto threat  —  House Republicans on Friday released their legislation to extend the payroll tax cut, reform and extend unemployment insurance, and fix the Medicare reimbursement rate for doctors.  —  The move sets up a vote on the year-end package as early as Tuesday.

Gingrich: Palestinians ‘invented,’ promises Netanyahu-style foreign policy  —  Former Speaker Newt Gingrich dismissed the Palestinian bid for statehood as the effort of an “invented Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs, and were historically part of the Arab community.”

GOP Objects To ‘Millionaires Surtax’; Millionaires We Found?  Not So Much  —  For the second week in a row, the Senate on Thursday voted down proposals to extend the payroll tax holiday through next year.  In the case of the Democrats' proposal, Republicans objected to the “millionaires surtax” that would be used to pay for it.

Elizabeth Warren slaps down Karl Rove, latest attack ad  —  A feisty Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren shot back at Republican strategist Karl Rove yesterday — calling his second negative ad “factually wrong and morally wrong” after a University of Massachusetts …

The Huntsman 2016 Fallacy  —  Jon Chait points out, correctly, that Newt Gingrich should be hoping against hope that a Jon Huntsman surge in New Hampshire cuts into Mitt Romney's support.  But then he veers off into implausible speculations about Huntsman's 2016 ambitions: