Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign  —  ROME — Pope Benedict XVI, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who took office in 2005 following the death of his predecessor, said on Monday that he will resign on Feb. 28, the first pope to do so in six centuries.

The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden... Is Screwed  —  For the first time, the Navy SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden tells his story — speaking not just about the raid and the three shots that changed history, but about the personal aftermath for himself and his family.

Sen. Inhofe threatens filibuster to block Hagel  —  Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) on Sunday threatened to filibuster former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.)'s nomination for Defense secretary, if necessary to prevent his confirmation.  —  “I want a 60-vote margin and you don't have to filibuster to get that …

Obama's State of the Union: Aggressive  —  President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech will be less a presidential olive branch than a congressional cattle prod.  —  Emboldened by electoral victory and convinced the GOP is unwilling to cut deals, Obama plans to use his big prime …

Obama Prepares To Screw His Base  —  Young people re-elected the president.  Now they get to pay disproportionately for ObamaCare.  —  President Obama talks with college students while waiting for an order of fries at OMG Burgers in Coral Gables, Florida last September.  —  Image by C.W. Griffin/Miami Herald/MCT

New Rove Group Could Backfire on G.O.P.  —  The strategist Karl Rove and his allies last week announced the formation of Conservative Victory Project, a new “super PAC” designed to lend support to what they see as more electable candidates in Republican Senate primaries.

Virginia Cuts State Employees' Hours To Avoid Providing Obamacare Coverage  —  As part of his state's new budget, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) and his administration are trying to force potentially tens of thousands of public sector employees in the state to work fewer hours so that the government …

Is Congress really going to miss its free lunch on infrastructure?  —  Since the election, there have been hints that we could be entering a period with some actual productive, bipartisan dealmaking, most explicitly on immigration reform.  But the Republican reaction to Obama's expected proposals …

The Absentee Commander in Chief  —  The Defense secretary told the president that Americans in Benghazi were under attack.  Then: nothing.  —  We've both had the honor to work in the White House.  We've seen presidents, vice presidents, chiefs of staff and national security advisers during moments of international crisis.

A Reader's War  —  “Thanks to literature, to the consciousness it shapes, the desires and longings it inspires...civilization is now less cruel than when storytellers began to humanize life with their fables.”  This defense, made by Mario Vargas Llosa when he received the Nobel Prize …

Armed Pro-Gun Protesters Occupy Oregon State Capitol  —  A few hundred pro-gun demonstrators rallied outside the Oregon state Capitol on Friday to protest efforts to enact gun safety laws.  A handful of protesters also entered the Capitol building itself and brandished assault rifles and other guns in the Capitol rotunda: