SAVAGE OFFERS GINGRICH $1 MILLION TO DROP OUT OF THE RACE — WILL ANNOUNCE ON SHOW TODAY  —  THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL FIELD HAS COME DOWN TO TWO CANDIDATES WHO HAVE A REAL CHANCE OF GETTING THE NOMINATION: NEWT GINGRICH AND MITT ROMNEY.  WHILE IT'S TRUE THAT ROMNEY IS NOT AS STRONG …

Newt takes no-adultery pledge  —  When the Iowa social conservative group The Family Leader unveiled a sweeping pledge on marriage and abortion over the summer, Newt Gingrich was one of the candidates who passed on signing it.  —  Now, Gingrich has answered the pledge with a lengthy written response …

Today In Dishonest Fox News Charts  —  It looks like Fox is trying to mislead its viewers on the unemployment rate.  Again.  —  On Monday, Fox News displayed a chart illustrating changes to the unemployment rate during 2011:  —  Note how the 8.6 percent unemployment rate in November looks higher …

Sarah Palin Pitching New Reality Show About Husband Todd's Snowmobile Adventures (Exclusive) … Sarah Palin announced in October that she would not run for president, leaving her free to focus on her media career.  But the GOP kingmaker and Fox News contributor is having some trouble selling …

Justices Agree to Hear Challenge to Arizona Immigration Laws  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether Arizona may impose tough anti-immigration measures.  Among them, in a law enacted last year, is a requirement that the police there question people they stop about their immigration status.

Gingrich's Electromagnetic Pulse Warning Has Skeptics  —  Newt Gingrich, the Republican presidential hopeful, wants you to know that as commander in chief he is ready to confront one of the most nightmarish of doomsday scenarios: a nuclear blast high above the United States that would instantly throw the nation into a dark age.

DNC chair: Unemployment didn't go up under Obama!  —  Denial — it ain't just a river in Egypt.  Appearing on Fox News this morning, DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz insisted that unemployment didn't go up in Barack Obama's term of office, a hilarious argument on several levels.

Depression and Democracy  —  It's time to start calling the current situation what it is: a depression.  True, it's not a full replay of the Great Depression, but that's cold comfort.  Unemployment in both America and Europe remains disastrously high.  Leaders and institutions are increasingly discredited.

Romney wants to ‘keep America American’  —  Maybe it's just me, but I find phrases like “keep America American” kind of creepy.  Take Mitt Romney's stump-speech rhetoric, for example. … I understand the context, but as Seth Masket noted, “keep America American” sounds an awful lot like a line we might expect from Bill the Butcher.

Barack Obama's ‘60 Minutes’ Interview Has Me Screaming at My TV Again  —  Today on Morning Joe, they were playing clips of Steve Kroft's 60 Minutes interview with President Obama, and I literally started screaming.  There is only so much of this bulls-t I can endure without talking back to my TV:

Populist-in-Chief  —  by Richard A. Epstein (Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow and member of the Property Rights, Freedom, and Prosperity Task Force)  —  Can Obama's progressive policies save the middle class from economic hardship?  —  One clear sign of America's social unease …

A Romance With Risk That Brought On a Panic  —  Soon after taking the reins of MF Global in 2010, Jon S. Corzine visited the Wall Street firm's Chicago offices for the first time, greeting the brokers, analysts and sales staff there.  —  One broker, Cy Monley, caught Mr. Corzine's eye.

Why the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Failed—and How to Fix It  —  The design vision was strong, and the artist accomplished, but a couple of key changes were made between conception and execution  —  Nearly 15 years after President Clinton signed legislation for the construction …

Gay veteran quizzes Mitt Romney on single-sex marriage  —  MANCHESTER, NH - It started out as a seemingly safe situation.  Mitt Romney, working a friendly room at a the Chez Vachon diner here, approached an older man wearing a Vietnam Veteran cap and sidled up next to him.

Sperm-donor kept wife in the dark  —  A conservative Christian politician has a secret life as a sperm donor for lesbian couples - even though he has campaigned against gay marriage.  —  American politician Bill Johnson has spent most of this year in Christchurch helping run the earthquake recovery …

As Americans struggle, the Obamas make do with 37 Christmas trees  —  The economy may be weak, unemployment strong and the first family soon to vacate the White House for another half-month of vacation in Hawaii.  —  But the Obamas have gone all out in decorating their house this year …

Obama 2012 Headquarters Upbeat but Phasers Set to Kill  —  Don't be fooled by the shiny, happy staffers and peppy slogans.  The president's re-elect is trained on the enemy, whoever that will be  —  Campaign offices are typically cluttered and uncomfortable, harshly lit windowless spaces …

Some berths shut down in Port of Oakland protest  —  (12-12) 14:48 PST OAKLAND — Almost half the berths at the Port of Oakland temporarily halted operations today after hundreds of protesters with the Occupied movement blocked intersections in the port.  —  Roughly 150 longshoremen …

When Truth Survives Free Speech  —  Last week, a story came across my desk that seemed to suggest that a blogger had been unfairly nailed with a $2.5 million defamation award after a judge refused to give her standing as a journalist.  A businessman who was the target of the blogger's inquiries brought the suit.

Iowa audience members yell at Rick Perry after Ames appearance [includes video]  —  Ames, Ia.  - A packed coffee house where Rick Perry spoke this afternoon turned into a bit of a ruckus that left the candidate heading out the back door and straight to his vehicle after several Iowans screamed questions about his views on gays.