Obama administration to reject Keystone pipeline  —  The Obama administration will announce this afternoon it is rejecting a Canadian firm's application for a permit to build and operate a massive oil pipeline across the U.S.-Canada border, according to sources who have been briefed on the matter.

Rick Perry's Final Act: King Maker?  —  “Rick Perry's campaign has come to an end.  But he could leave on an unexpected high note — helping conservatives unite around one not-Romney”  —  Barring a miracle, this is Rick Perry's final act in the 2012 elections.  On Saturday, he will come in last in South Carolina.

SOPA blackout leads co-sponsors to defect  —  Amid online protests that include major websites like Wikipedia blacking out their sites, a few co-sponsors of the Stop Online Piracy Act in Congress are defecting.  —  Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.), originally a co-sponsor of the bill, pulled his name from the list of sponsors on Tuesday.

Editor's Note of the Day  —  This was attached to the end of a nauseating Boston Globe article celebrating the amorous relations between Occupy protesters: … Oops.  —  The Boston Herald called out the Globe for its lazy vetting: … Bias?  What bias?  Congrats, Boston Globe.

Bill Clinton: Someone We Can All Agree On  —  Even his staunchest enemies now regard his presidency as the good old days.  He has become the rare consensus figure in a country that has lost all sense of consensus.  So we talked to him about where it went, and how we might get it back.

G.O.P. in Congress Gets Blame for Gridlock  —  The public is not assigning blame equally between President Obama and Republicans in Congress for the partisan gridlock over key legislation.  —  In the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, 60 percent say Mr. Obama is attempting to work …

Romney Caricatures Himself  —  Mitt Romney, in all likelihood, is going to walk away with his party's presidential nomination.  Yet from the standpoint of positioning himself for the general election, the primary season has been a disaster for him.  Romney's campaign has worked hard …

David Brooks: Gail, I'm sorry we missed each other in South Carolina, but I've moved on to the next primary state, Florida, in search of people who pay Mitt Romney's 15 percent tax rate.  I'm in Palm Beach now.  I think I've found them.  —  By the way, why do we make candidates release their tax forms?

Julian Assange: The Rolling Stone Interview  —  Under house arrest in England, the WikiLeaks founder opens up about his battle with the ‘Times,’ his stint in solitary and the future of journalism  —  It's a few days before Christmas, and Julian Assange has just finished moving to a new hide-out deep in the English countryside.

Unpopular Nationally, Romney Holds Solid GOP Lead  —  OVERVIEW  —  Days ahead of the South Carolina primary, Mitt Romney maintains a substantial lead nationally in the race for the GOP nomination.  Yet his image among all voters has slipped since November and he runs no better …

Gingrich's College Records Show a Professor Hatching Big Plans  —  A year into his first full-time teaching job, Newt Gingrich applied to be college president, submitting with his application a paper titled “Some Projections on West Georgia College's Next Thirty Years.”

Recess appointments might not hold  —  Some legal experts, including those who have sided with President Obama on other constitutional issues, think there is a good chance the courts could overturn his recent recess appointments.  —  Legal experts said courts could invalidate Obama's appointments …