White House condemns Tel Aviv bus attack as Clinton heads to Cairo  —  The White House on Wednesday condemned a bomb attack on a Tel Aviv bus, as Secretary Hillary Clinton worked to craft a cease-fire to halt the violence between Hamas and Israel.  —  “The United States condemns today's terrorist attack on a bus in Tel Aviv.

McCain Backs Away From Benghazi Conspiracies  —  Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) today issued a statement essentially conceding that he was wrong in accusing the White House of changing U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice's talking points on Benghazi for political purposes.  —  Former CIA Director David …

Who Said It: Marco Rubio or Barack Obama?  —  Willful ignorance of science is a bipartisan value.  —  By now you've heard the outrageous quote from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on his doubts about the origins of planet Earth.  When asked to give its age, he replied: “I'm not a scientist, man. ...

Citizens rush council members as chaos erupts at Newark City Hall meeting  —  By David Giambusso and James Queally/The Star-Ledger  —  NEWARK — A behind-the-scenes political maneuver by Newark Mayor Cory Booker to fill a vacant council seat with his choice led to a near-riot in city hall tonight …

S.F. barely passes public-nudity ban  —  Protester Gypsy Taub speaks out against the Board of Supervisors decision to ban public nakedness while naked at City Hall in San Francisco, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012.  San Francisco lawmakers on Tuesday narrowly approved a proposal to ban public nakedness …

The Genius Who Invented Economics Blogging Reveals How He Got Everything Right And What's Coming Next  —  The economics blogosphere was invented in early 2005 by a retired technology executive in Southern California named Bill McBride.  —  Thank God for that, because his blog, Calculated Risk …

U.S. Deficit Shrinking At Fastest Pace Since WWII, Before Fiscal Cliff  —  Believe it or not, the federal deficit has fallen faster over the past three years than it has in any such stretch since demobilization from World War II.  —  In fact, outside of that post-WWII era …

Lawyer for Christian Alliance Fighting for Marriage Sanctity Faces Child Porn Charges  —  What do you say about people like this?  It's almost a caricature, it's so disgustingly ridiculous.  Lisa Biron was New Hampshire lawyer who worked for the Alliance Defending Freedom …

House GOP is angling to repeal health care  —  John Boehner of West Chester Township is Speaker of the House and represents Ohio's 8th congressional district, which includes most of Butler County.  —  President Obama has won re-election, but his health care law is still driving up costs …

Mitt Romney Went To Disneyland  —  Earlier: Mitt Romney fills up his gas tank.  UPDATE: Even more photos of the family fun times.  —  Jessica Testa  —  a half hour ago  —  57 responses

U.S. Government Hacked Into French Presidential Office, Spied on Senior Officials, Says a French News Report  —  According to the French magazine l'Express, American officials gained almost unlimited access to computers of senior officials in the final days of the Sarkozy administration.  —  AP

Former Romney adviser blasts top surrogates for now ‘eviscerating’ Romney  —  (CNN) - A former senior adviser to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign skewered some of the GOP nominee's surrogates Wednesday, saying it was “stunning” how they preened for administration positions when they thought Romney …

The New Republicans  —  There has been a lot of talk since the election about the possible emergence of a new faction within the Republican party, or at least among the conservative intelligentsia.  These new Republicans, we're told, are willing to be more open-minded on cultural issues …

How to End the Great Fiscal Wars  —  In one way, the so-called fiscal cliff threatening the U.S. economy is less dangerous than widely supposed.  In another, it's more.  —  First, as many have said, the cliff is really a slope.  At year's end, the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003 automatically expire …

Iowa's GOP Governor: Time to End the Straw Poll  —  Is one of the quirkiest rituals of the Republican presidential election calendar heading for the grave?  —  It is, if Iowa's Republican Gov. Terry Branstad has his say.  —  Eyeing the wreckage of the 2011 Ames Straw Poll …

Making the Same-Sex Case  —  Legalizing marriage for gay couples will cultivate community stability and foster family values.  —  They say demography is destiny, and in American politics destiny has belonged to those who best aligned their core beliefs with the rapidly changing and ever-improving citizenry.

Poetic justice: Romney likely to finish at 47 percent  —  When all the votes are counted, could Mitt Romney really end up achieving perfect poetic justice by finishing with 47 percent of the national vote?  Yup.  Dave Wasserman of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report says new votes in from Maryland put Romney at 47.56 percent.

Jesse Jackson Jr. Cancels Call to Chicago Staff  —  Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. reportedly had planned to break his silence Wednesday during a morning conference call with staff but changed his mind.  —  Jackson spokesman Frank Watkins told Ward Room the South Side Democrat was scheduled to talk …