The Republican Debt Ceiling Gambit Is Unconstitutional  —  House Republicans are backing away from their threat to plunge the United States into a catastrophic budget default and will instead pursue the somewhat less reckless strategy of passing a three-month increase in the debt limit.

Lance Armstrong May Have Lied to Winfrey: Investigators  —  Lance Armstrong may have lied to Oprah Winfrey during his so-called confession Thursday night about his doping during the Tour de France bicycle race, investigators told ABC News today.  —  Armstrong, 41, admitted …

PolitiFact Concedes Their ‘Lie of the Year’ is the ‘Literal Truth’  —  Earlier today, I wrote a lengthy critique pointing out the inconvenient fact that PolitiFact's Lie of the Year — “The Romney campaign's ad on Jeeps made in China” — turns out to be true.

NRA President Blames Obama For ‘Hundreds’ Of Death Threats … On a right-wing talk show on Thursday, David Keene, the president of the National Rifle Association, blamed President Obama and the left for what he says have been hundreds of death threats made against him and his family.

Stephen Colbert's sister will run for Congress  —  Stephen Colbert may have “run for president,” but his sister is actually going to run for Congress.  —  Elizabeth Colbert-Busch's soon-to-be-official campaign has informed South Carolina Democratic Party executive director Amanda Loveday …

The Next Four Years  —  President Obama's second inaugural comes at an interesting moment, what you might call the end of the era of the Grand Bargain.  Throughout his first term, Democrats and Republicans didn't achieve a Grand Bargain on spending and taxes, but there was a sense that history was moving in that direction.

NY NEWSPAPER REMOVES HANDGUN PERMIT HOLDER DATA  —  WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — A suburban New York newspaper that outraged gun owners by posting the names and addresses of residents with handgun permits removed the information from its website Friday.  —  The Journal News took down the data …

How the current GOP thinks like revolutionaries — and why that's a bad thing  —  In an exit interview with the Wall Street Journal, outgoing U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said some provocative things about the state of America's political system and how that affects our standing in the world.

New Study Highlights Threat From Far Right-Wing Groups In U.S.  —  A new study from a think tank connected to the West Point Military Academy highlights the threat of violent far-right movements in the United States, leading to the conclusion that, while diverse in in their causes …

Ray Nagin indictment: First New Orleans mayor to face corruption charges  —  A federal grand jury on Friday indicted former Mayor Ray Nagin with 21 counts of corruption, alleging that while in office, Nagin took cash bribes and gifts from two city contractors and used his power as mayor …

Rush Limbaugh Incites Violence Against Women Seeking Abortion  —  As everyone here reading knows, terrorism is a major concern for abortion providers.  Just the other night, I went to an event for Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health, and one of the doctors speaking …

Aurora theater shooting: Judge OKs effort to subpoena Fox News reporter Jana Winter  —  The judge overseeing the murder case against accused Aurora movie theater shooter James Holmes has signed off on a defense effort to subpoena a New York-based Fox News reporter over a story the woman wrote.

Five myths about this year's flu  —  Tevi Troy is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a former deputy secretary of health and human services.  —  The rapid onset of the flu season this year has led to illness, absenteeism, hospitalizations and, tragically, death.

One American dead in Algeria hostage crisis  —  U.S. officials confirmed Friday that one American has died in the hostage standoff at the Algerian natural gas field, The Associated Press reported, though reliable details about the terror attack there remained elusive.

Sandy Hook Conspiracy Theories Edge Toward The Mainstream  —  “By far the hottest topic of the moment.”  Ignore it and it won't go away.  —  There are two kinds of conspiracy theories: The ones about the Illuminati and about mysterious “chemtrails,” which lurk forever in the online twilight zone …

Shut Up & Blog  —  Sen. Rand Paul slams Christie for NRA comments, Sandy aid  —  Today on The Laura Ingraham Show, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) gave a wide-ranging interview, during which he attacked New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for his criticism of the NRA and his grandstanding on Sandy aid …

Naked-Image Scanners to Be Removed From U.S. Airports  —  The U.S. Transportation Security Administration will remove airport body scanners that privacy advocates likened to strip searches after OSI Systems Inc. (OSIS) couldn't write software to make passenger images less revealing.

Fox News poll: Twice as many favor more guns over banning guns to reduce crime  —  Nearly twice as many voters say there would be less violent crime if more law-abiding Americans owned guns, than if guns were banned.  —  In addition, while American voters generally favor strengthening gun laws …