‘This Is the End of the Presidency’  —  Tracking the same horrible second-term path as Bush, can Obama learn from the past?  —  Claiming a mandate he never had, the newly reelected president foisted a bold agenda upon Congress and the public, then watched it collapse within months …

A Powerful Rebuke of Mass Surveillance  —  For the first time since the revelation of the National Security Agency's vast dragnet of all Americans' telephone records, a federal court has ruled that such surveillance is “significantly likely” to be unconstitutional.

Former Microsoft Executive Kurt DelBene To Replace Jeff Zients  —  Today, I am pleased to announce Kurt DelBene as my Senior Advisor and successor to Jeff Zients.  Jeff did an outstanding job working with our team to provide management advice and counsel on the HealthCare.gov project.

The Thought Leader  —  Little boys and girls in ancient Athens grew up wanting to be philosophers.  In Renaissance Florence they dreamed of becoming Humanists.  But now a new phrase and a new intellectual paragon has emerged to command our admiration: The Thought Leader.

Senate GOP to decide filibuster strategy  —  Stinging from Senate Democrats' gutting of the filibuster, Senate Republicans will use their private caucus lunch Tuesday to decide on their strategy for holding back a string of nominees.  —  Now that Senate rules prevent the minority party …

An Open Letter to the People of Brazil  —  Atualizado em 17/12/2013 às 08h11.  —  Six months ago, I stepped out from the shadows of the United States Government's National Security Agency to stand in front of a journalist's camera.  —  Espionage Whistleblower Edward Snowden to Seek Asylum in Brazil

Next Obamacare crisis: Small-business costs?  —  Think the canceled health policies hurt the Obamacare cause?  There's another political time bomb lurking that could explode not too long before next year's elections: rate hikes for small businesses.  —  Like the canceled individual health plans …

Internal Rick Scott poll: Charlie Crist up in Florida  —  Charlie Crist leads Florida Gov. Rick Scott by 4 percentage points in an internal poll conducted by Scott pollster Tony Fabrizio.  —  The survey, taken in late November and obtained Tuesday by POLITICO, puts Crist …

Fox News Remains Ratings Champ As 2013 Comes to Close  —  It and rivals CNN, MSNBC down from last year  —  Fox News Channel maintained its grip on the cable-news network ratings prize in 2013, drawing more viewers than the combined averages of CNN, MSNBC and HLN.

Francis Dumps U.S. Cardinal Who Is Outspoken Critic Of Abortion, Gay Marriage  —  ST. LOUIS (AP) — Pope Francis announced changes in the influential Vatican office that evaluates and nominates candidates for bishop around the world.  —  Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington was appointed Monday to the Congregation for Bishops.

Shia LaBeouf Apologizes After Plagiarizing Artist Daniel Clowes For His New Short Film  —  UPDATED: The similarities between LaBeouf's HowardCantour.com and Clowes' Justin M. Damiano are astounding.  “In my excitement and naiveté as an amateur filmmaker, I got lost in the creative process …

Too Risky for Boulder?  —  Patricia Adler stunned her students in a popular course on deviance Thursday by announcing that she would be leaving her tenured position teaching sociology at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  —  Adler said that officials told her that one of the highlights of the course …

Frank Wolf Will Not Seek Re-Election  —  (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo)  —  Republican Rep. Frank R. Wolf will not seek an 18th term in Congress, according to a statement from his office.  —  “I have decided not to seek re-election to the U.S. Congress in 2014,” Wolf …

Why 60 Minutes Tanked the NSA Story: The Producers Theory  —  It'll be a good 30 years until I can start collecting Social Security checks, and I can't say where I was when JFK was shot, so I'm not really in 60 Minutes' target audience.  * Other reporters, who have closely covered the NSA story …

Texas congressmen take aim at Affordable Care Act's navigators  —  Dozens of Obamacare supporters attended Monday's congressional hearing at the Eisemann Center in Richardson.  Luis Veloz, 20, of Dallas told the crowd that he and his family do not have health insurance.

Of Jane Fonda and Pope Francis  —  The pontiff understands the power of moral example.  Today's liberal high priests do not.  —  In the same week that Pope Francis was named Time's Person of the Year, word arrived of the charitable contributions made by the Jane Fonda Foundation.