The Syria Solution: Obama Got Played by Putin and Assad  —  This, apparently, is how diplomacy happens these days: Someone makes an off-hand remark at a press conference and triggers an international chain reaction that turns an already chaotic and complex situation completely on its head …

‘A Grand Betrayal’: Conservatives Slam GOP's Gambit On Defunding Obamacare  —  The initial reviews from conservatives Tuesday are in and they're staunchly negative.  The proposed House Republican plan to force the Senate to vote on defunding Obamacare — while removing the threat …

DNI Clapper Declassifies Intelligence Community Documents Regarding Collection Under Section 501 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)  —  September 10, 2013  —  In June of this year, President Obama directed me to declassify and make public as much information as possible …

Cenk Uygur to Dana Perino: 'You're wrong, I'm right.  Get the f*ck out of the country'  —  On Monday's edition of “The Young Turks,” host Cenk Uygur sent a special message to former White House spokesperson Dana Perino, who last week said she is “tired” of atheists demanding that Christian ideology be separated from public policy.

Bride: I pushed my husband off cliff  —  (CNN) — A woman in Montana is accused of pushing her husband off a cliff after an argument.  The pair had been married for just more than a week.  —  Jordan Linn Graham made an initial appearance in court Monday to face a charge of second-degree murder.

Business Insider CTO Forced to Resign Following Twitter Firestorm [Updated]  —  Pax Dickinson has been forced to resign as chief technology officer at Business Insider following an online firestorm over his long history of controversial tweets, according to a source who has been in contact with him.

Kerry's claim that he opposed Bush's invasion of Iraq  —  “You know, Senator Chuck Hagel, when he was senator, Senator Chuck Hagel, now secretary of defense, and when I was a senator, we opposed the president's decision to go into Iraq, but we know full well how that evidence was used to persuade …

The United States of weakness  —  Red lines that may or may not be real, retaliatory strikes that may or may not be hours from launch, congressional debates that may or may not be necessary for the president to do what he wants—whatever that happens to be this hour.

A Climate Alarm, Too Muted for Some  —  This month, the world will get a new report from a United Nations panel about the science of climate change.  Scientists will soon meet in Stockholm to put the finishing touches on the document, and behind the scenes, two big fights are brewing.

Yoo to Conservatives: Reverse Course  —  The latest issue of the National Review has an article by Berkeley law prof John Yoo that invites serious thought and discussion—very serious thought.  Here's the gist:  —  In the Reagan era, conservatives stood for a “unitary executive” …

Bus rider's face smashed in during ‘hate attack’  —  An attacker pummeled a bus passenger so hard he smashed the bones in his face after calling the victim a “cracker” in Manhattan - marking the second time in two days that people appeared to be randomly targeted in racial tirades against white people, authorities said.

Firearms ordinance finally approved  —  NEWTOWN — More than a year after the first debate, the Legislative Council voted unanimously to approve a new firearms ordinance that was called a compromise by those on both sides of the issue.  —  The ordinance voted on last week will be in effect by the beginning of next month.