FBI Agent in Petraeus Case Under Scrutiny  —  WASHINGTON—A federal agent who launched the investigation that ultimately led to the resignation of Central Intelligence Agency chief David Petraeus was barred from taking part in the case over the summer due to superiors' concerns …

‘We the People’ Petitions Filed in Nineteen States Seeking Permission to Secede from the Union  —  In the aftermath of last week's presidential election, residents in at least nineteen states have put up petitions on the government's “We the People” petitioning website seeking the right to secede from the rest of the country.

Democrat Kyrsten Sinema beats GOP's Vernon Parker in Arizona's 9th Congressional District  —  PHOENIX — Former Democratic state Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has been elected to represent a new Phoenix-area congressional district, emerging victorious after a bitterly fought race that featured millions of dollars in attack ads.

White House Grand Bargain offer to Speaker Boehner Obtained by Bob Woodward  —  Below are documents obtained by the Washington Post's Bob Woodward that show a grand bargain proposal the White House was prepared to make in order to reach agreement with the House Republicans last year.

Romney earned zero votes in some urban precincts  —  President Obama's victory over Mitt Romney in last Tuesday's presidential election was driven, in part, by the president's strength in urban areas, where robust support cushioned the incumbent against electoral deficits in rural America.

What's Going on With the Fiscal Cliff?  —  Zhang Jun/Xinhua/Zuma; Anton Reznikov/Shutterstock  —  Where did this whole “fiscal cliff” metaphor come from, anyway?  —  It's the handiwork of Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, the same guy who warned us about a “global savings glut” in 2005.

CHER & THE MARRIED TV NERD  —  Photography by: Getty Images Entertainment  —  CHER has fallen for a new guy half her age - 33-year-old, married MSNBC broadcaster CHRIS HAYES.  —  The “Believe” singer, 66, has been gushing to friends about her huge crush on the nerdy rising cable star …

Exclusive: John McAfee Wanted for Murder (Updated)  —  Antivirus pioneer John McAfee is on the run from murder charges, Belize police say.  According to Marco Vidal, head of the national police force's Gang Suppression Unit, McAfee is a prime suspect in the murder of American expatriate Gregory Faull …

Allen West digs in  —  Florida Rep. Allen West has never been one to back down from a brawl — and he's not starting now.  —  The freshman tea party favorite is refusing to concede his hard-fought reelection campaign, despite vote tallies showing him trailing his Democratic challenger …

The GOP's media cocoon  —  A long-simmering generational battle in the conservative movement is boiling over after last week's shellacking, with younger operatives and ideologues going public with calls that Republicans break free from a political-media cocoon that has become intellectually suffocating and self defeating.

GOP's Red America forced to rethink what it knows about the country  —  HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — She arrived early to take apart the campaign office piece by piece, just as she felt so many other things about her life were being dismantled.  Beth Cox wore a Mitt Romney T-shirt …

Obama considering John Kerry for job of defense secretary  —  President Obama is considering asking Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) to serve as his next defense secretary, part of an extensive rearrangement of his national security team that will include a permanent replacement for former CIA director David H. Petraeus.

Romney Political Director: ‘The Ground Game Worked Fine’  —  Rich Beeson, the political director for the Romney campaign, says that the problem wasn't the GOP get-out-the-vote efforts, but the astounding success of the Democrats to turn out groups that generally didn't vote in such large numbers.

Nearly 400,000 People Call On Macy's To Dump Donald Trump  —  A grassroots campaign for Macy's to end their association with Donald Trump has caught fire.  Nearly 400,000 people have added their name to a petition on Signon.org for Macy's, which exclusively sells Trump's clothing line and fragrance …

Grover Norquist: Romney A ‘Poopy Head’  —  Anti-tax crusader and head of Americans for Tax Reform Grover Norquist told CBS on Monday that President Obama did not deserve a claim to an electoral mandate following his re-election because the candidate Republicans put forth to challenge him …

Cornel West: Obama A ‘Republican In Blackface,’ Black MSNBC Hosts Are ‘Selling Their Souls’  —  During an interview last week with Democracy Now, author and activist Cornel West offered harsh criticism of President Barack Obama, calling him a “Rockefeller Republican in blackface” …

The New Math  —  A number of TPM Readers have written in this morning saying, “Josh, how can you of all people be surprised that Republicans or at least Republican pollsters had created their own alternative numbers reality (or in Megan Kelly's now immortal words, “Math you do as a Republican …

“The Simpsons” Mock Karl Rove  —  The Simpsons take on the Karl Rove freakout.