CNN Poll: Are GOP policies too extreme?  —  Washington (CNN) - Just over half the public says that the GOP should give up more than the Democrats in any bipartisan solution to the country's problems, according to a new national survey.  —  And a CNN/ORC International poll also indicates …

Rejecting Chuck Hagel  —  Former Republican Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel may no longer be President Obama's favored pick to run the Defense Department, sources told the Free Beacon.  —  Hagel immediately drew a frosty reception from observers who criticized him for advocating in favor …

WBUR Poll: Brown Would Be In Strong Position For Special Election  —  BOSTON — A WBUR poll of 500 registered voters (PDFs - topline, crosstabs) finds U.S. Sen. Scott Brown is in a strong position should there be a special election to fill U.S. Sen. John Kerry's seat.

Obama: Climate change among top three priorities for second term  —  President Obama has identified climate change as one of his top three priorities in his second term after coming under fire from environmentalists for giving the issue short shrift during the campaign.

Newtown Answers  —  Twenty children and six adults are dead.  In Nigeria, people put their lives at risk going to church on Sundays.  But in New England?  The thought that going to school could be a final act is hard for us to comprehend.  The seeming senselessness of what happened …

Guns Out of Stock at Wal-Mart as Magazine Prices Surge on  —  With President Barack Obama endorsing sweeping gun restrictions in the wake of the school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, prices for handgun magazines are surging on EBay (EBAY) and semi-automatic rifles are sold out at many Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) locations.

Postscript: Robert Bork, 1927-2012  —  Robert Bork, who died Wednesday, was an unrepentant reactionary who was on the wrong side of every major legal controversy of the twentieth century.  The fifty-eight senators who voted against Bork for confirmation to the Supreme Court in 1987 honored themselves, and the Constitution.

Tapper to Obama on newfound gun control advocacy: ‘Where have you been?’  —  ABC White House correspondent Jake Tapper asked President Barack Obama Wednesday why the president's plea for action on gun issues has come so late in his first term and only after last week's tragic incident at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut.

Fox News Brings On Santa Claus To Discuss The ‘War On Christmas’  —  Fox and Friends took its coverage of the so-called “War on Christmas” to the front lines on Thursday morning by inviting Santa Claus to weigh in on America's changing culture and secularization.

Spielberg, Day-Lewis at Capitol for screening of ‘Lincoln’ for senators  —  The two stars brought the Senate to a halt when they arrived for a bipartisan viewing of their hit movie.  —  Actor Daniel Day-Lewis and director Steven Spielberg brought the Senate to a halt on Wednesday afternoon …

3 State Department Resignations After Libya Attack Report  —  WASHINGTON — Three State Department officials resigned under pressure on Wednesday following a report that detailed “grossly inadequate” security measures at the United States Mission in Benghazi, Libya, on the night assailants besieged …

Connecticut congressman: Rick Perry a ‘testosterone laden’ individual with blood on his hands … During a press conference on gun control yesterday, Rep. Jim Himes D-Conn. blasted Texas Governor Rick Perry for vocally supporting Second Amendment rights for American citizens after the horrific school shooting in Connecticut.

Barber shop conversation in Wentzville about Connecticut shootings ends with shots fired at customer  —  • By Susan Weich sweich@post-dispatch.com 636-493-9674  —  WENTZVILLE  • A barber shop patron who fired three times at another customer discussing the Connecticut school shooting has been charged with three felonies.