Why Obama is arming Syria's rebels: it's the realism, stupid.  —  Red line!!  RED LINE!!!  RED LINE!!!!: … Naturally, this will feed the “return of the liberal hawks” meme that's spreading in some quarters.  Other commentators will gnash their teeth or decry that this is the first ill …

Santorum: Why Romney didn't win  —  Rick Santorum ripped Mitt Romney's campaign Thursday for mishandling President Barack Obama's “you didn't build that” gaffe last summer.  —  The former Pennsylvania senator recalled all the business owners who spoke at the Republican National Convention.

CBS News confirms multiple breaches of Sharyl Attkisson's computer  —  CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson revealed in May that her computer had been compromised.  When asked about the situation, CBS News responded with a statement that it was conducting an investigation.

Some Questions For and About Edward Snowden  —  Via Andrew Sullivan, I see that a number of people are pushing back against Glenn Greenwald's insistence that the PRISM program allows “direct access” to servers from Google, Microsoft and other tech companies.  I'm glad to hear that, because it raises some questions that deserve answers.

Religion and Inequality  —  About a century ago, Walter Judd was a 17-year-old boy hoping to go to college at the University of Nebraska.  His father pulled him aside and told him that, though the family had happily paid for Judd's two sisters to go to college, Judd himself would get no money for tuition or room and board.

U.S. Agencies Said to Swap Data With Thousands of Firms  —  Thousands of technology, finance and manufacturing companies are working closely with U.S. national security agencies, providing sensitive information and in return receiving benefits that include access to classified intelligence, four people familiar with the process said.

Tap It: NSA Slow Jam (featuring Remy)  —  Government surveillance never sounded so smooth...  Government surveillance never sounded so smooth.  —  Song written and performed by Remy.  Produced by Meredith Bragg.  About 2:45 minutes.  —  Scroll below for downloadable versions and subscribe …

Bill Clinton: Gun groups try to ‘terrify’  —  Former President Bill Clinton said Friday that gun groups are trying to “terrify” people into believing the federal government wants to take away their firearms.  —  “What's going on is that these organized interest groups don't want anything done …

The Bell Tolls for the ‘New Majority’  —  Next year should be a banner year for the GOP, and may yet be.  —  Obamacare, a “train wreck” about to happen, says Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, goes into full effect Jan. 1, with the popular IRS as enforcer.  —  The Obama media feel betrayed …

Jeb Bush: U.S. economy needs immigrants because they're ‘more fertile’  —  Former Florida governor Jeb Bush (R) argued Wednesday that the United States should pass immigration reform because the U.S. economy needs the labor of young immigrants, and immigrants are “more fertile.”

Snowden's Leaks on China Could Affect Its Role in His Fate  —  HONG KONG — The decision by a former National Security Agency contractor to divulge classified data about the U.S. government's surveillance of computers in mainland China and Hong Kong has complicated his legal position …

Concluding Statement of the 2013 Article IV Mission to The United States of America  —  1. The U.S. recovery has remained tepid over the past year, but underlying fundamentals have been gradually improving.  The modest growth rate of 2.2 percent in 2012 reflected legacy effects from the financial crisis …

Bachmann, Gohmert, & Steve King Appeal Directly To Beck And His Audience: 'We're Losing Badly...'  —  With immigration reform still going through Congress, a number of conservative Republicans are not happy with how their party has jumped on the bandwagon to fight for a bill that concedes the argument to the Democrats.

Paul Ryan explains GOP's 2012 loss  —  Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Friday that he and Mitt Romney lost in November in part because they were arguing against the “empty promises” of the not-yet-implemented Obamacare law.  —  “This was the challenge that Mitt Romney and I had in this last election …

Do low taxes on the rich leave the middle-class with lower wages?  —  Raising taxes on the rich often gets proposed as a way of combating the rise of financial inequality.  But how important is tax policy, really?  —  Andrew Fieldhouse, a federal budget policy analyst at the Economic Policy Institute …

Freedom: The Unfolding Revolution  —  'Why are there no libertarian countries?  In a much-discussed essay for Salon, Michael Lind asks: “If libertarians are correct in claiming that they understand how best to organize a modern society, how is it that not a single country in the world …

Christie, Bill Clinton Warm to Latest Bipartisan Presidential ‘Bromance’  —  What is it with Chris Christie and Democratic presidents?  —  First, the Republican governor from New Jersey surprised his party by embracing — both figuratively and literally — President Obama.

Texas gov. signs ‘Merry Christmas’ law; says religious freedom is not freedom from religion  —  AUSTIN, Texas — Surrounded by sleigh bell-ringing Santa Claus impersonators, Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday signed a law protecting Christmas and other holiday celebrations in Texas public schools …

Cornyn emerges as key to 70-vote threshold for immigration reform  —  Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is the big prize in the quest for more than 70 votes for immigration reform, but the Gang of Eight is split over whether he's worth wooing.  —  Cornyn told Republican colleagues at a meeting Wednesday …

Voters still mad about lack of gun legislation  —  PPP's newest national poll finds on the 6th month anniversary of Newtown that voters are still angry with Congress over the lack of action on expanded background checks.  They continue to have overwhelming bipartisan support with 71% of voters favoring them to only 22% who are opposed.

Secret Court Ruling Put Tech Companies in Data Bind  —  SAN FRANCISCO — In a secret court in Washington, Yahoo's top lawyers made their case.  The government had sought help in spying on certain foreign users, without a warrant, and Yahoo had refused, saying the broad requests were unconstitutional.