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 …

Paul Ryan a Favorite of Republicans  —  Christie, Rubio more popular among all Americans than Ryan  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Of five recent Republican newsmakers also mentioned as potential 2016 presidential candidates, Wisconsin Rep. and 2012 vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan is rated …

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.

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.

White House: Obama's $100M Africa trip ‘great bang for our buck’  —  President Obama's $100 million trip to African offers “great bang for our buck,” the White House said Friday.  —  Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes defended the cost of Obama's upcoming trip to South Africa …

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 …

Bill Clinton: ‘I expect to support’ Hillary on ‘whatever’ she does in 2016  —  Former President Clinton said he would support his wife whether she decides to run for president in 2016 or do something else.  —  Asked in an interview with Bloomberg TV, Clinton said he did not know whether his wife …

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.

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 …

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 …

‘Cliff’ from ‘Cheers’ wants Allen West to spread his ‘gene pool’ across America  —  Conservative actor John Ratzenberger, who is best known as the character “Cliff” from the television sitcom Cheers, on Friday called for former Rep. Allen West (R-FL) to take “something from his gene pool” …

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.

Senate Staffers Told To Pretend Top Secret Documents Are Not Widely Available On Web  —  The Senate Security Office sent an email around the Hill Friday afternoon asking Senate employees and contractors to try to ignore the fact that top-secret, highly-classified documents are now floating around …

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 …

George Zimmerman's Father Says The ‘True Racists’ Are African-American  —  As the murder trial for George Zimmerman begins, his father has released an emotional and highly unusual e-book, publicly opining on all aspects of the case.  The book by Robert Zimmerman Sr., called “Florida v. Zimmerman …

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 …

Iran presidential election: second round forecast after late flurry at polls  —  All six candidates pledge to respect result as millions queue to vote for successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad  —  Iran's presidential race appears poised for a runoff vote next week after millions …

Al Gore: NSA's secret surveillance program ‘not really the American way’  —  Former vice-president - not persuaded by argument that program was legal - urges Congress and Obama to amend the laws  —  The National Security Agency's blanket collection of US citizens' phone records was …