Why I made the right call  —  View Photo Gallery — What you need to know about Susan Rice: The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has withdrawn from consideration for secretary of state  —  On Thursday I asked that President Obama no longer consider me for the job of secretary of state.

Marijuana Users Not High Priority for President Obama  —  President Obama says recreational users of marijuana in states that have legalized the substance should not be a “top priority” of federal law enforcement officials prosecuting the war on drugs.  —  “We've got bigger fish to fry,” …

House GOP Boosts Funds for DOMA Legal Defense  —  House Republicans quietly have raised the value of a contract with a private law firm that is handling the chamber's Supreme Court defense of a 1996 federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

The End of Birth-Control Politics  —  Over-the-counter sales of oral contraceptives will cut off a disingenuous attack line.  —  The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists announced its support last month for selling oral contraceptives over the counter without a prescription in the United States.

Report: Hagel likely top White House pick for Department of Defense chief  —  Former Nebraska Republican senator and Vietnam veteran Chuck Hagel has taken the top spot on the Obama administration's shortlist of candidates to replace Defense Secretary Leon Panetta at the Pentagon, according to news reports.

Only 15 States Opt to Run Obamacare Exchanges  —  Only 15 states have told the federal government they plan to operate health insurance exchanges under President Barack Obama's reform law, leaving Washington with the daunting task of creating online marketplaces for two-thirds of the country.

With Gap Wide and Time Short, Obama and Boehner Meet  —  WASHINGTON — With time running short to work out a deal to avert a year-end fiscal crisis, Speaker John A. Boehner met with President Obama at the White House on Thursday evening to try to bridge a vast gap between the parties on taxes …

The G.O.P.'s Existential Crisis  —  We are not having a debt crisis.  —  It's important to make this point, because I keep seeing articles about the “fiscal cliff” that do, in fact, describe it — often in the headline — as a debt crisis.  But it isn't.  The U.S. government is having no trouble borrowing to cover its deficit.

More staffers recount confrontational elevator rides with Rep. Foxx  —  More House staffers are coming forward with cautionary tales of their members-only elevator rides with Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.).  —  ITK last week brought you one tipster's claims of Foxx laying the verbal smackdown …

Other Media Provocateurs Pan Steven Crowder's Performance  —  “It's important not to instigate the person you're interviewing,” Fields says.  —  Video of conservative activist Steven Crowder's tussle with a union member in Michigan this week, which led to the Fox News contributor being punched …

Neil Cavuto cuts off Rep. E.B. Johnson  —  Fox News' Neil Cavuto cut to commercial during a heated interview with Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson where the congresswoman told him to “shut up for just a second” and he later called their discussion “a total waste of time.”

Mother Nature Is Just Getting Warmed Up: Record-Smashing Early December Assures 2012 Will Be Hottest In U.S. History  —  We've had spring weather in early December — and that guarantees 2012 will be the hottest year on record for the United States.  —  I had reported on Monday that 2012 …

Is Obama Punishing the GOP Because He's Mean?  —  Even as they grudgingly have come to accept that they can't prevent the expiration of the Bush tax cuts for the rich, Republicans have increasingly started explaining this pitiable state of affairs to themselves as the product of President Obama's unique malevolence.

King: Benghazi 10 times bigger than Watergate, Iran-Contra combined  —  Rep. Steve King, Iowa Republican, said Wednesday that the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, is 10 times bigger than the Watergate and Iran-Contra scandals put together.

Arnold Schwarzenegger: What I've Learned  —  Actor, former governor, 65, Los Angeles  —  The Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts, Inc./Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York  —  Warhol photographed Schwarzenegger, then a bodybuilder, with a Polaroid Big Shot camera in 1977.