GOP internal debate: Is party repeating mistakes of 1998?  —  BARACK OBAMA BILL CLINTON JOHN BOEHNER 2014 ELECTIONS  —  For anyone who was around, it's hard to compare 1998 — the year of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the Starr Report, and Bill Clinton's impeachment — with any other year.

LAWMAKERS TRY TO SEAL $225M AID PACKAGE FOR ISRAEL  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic and Republican members of Congress scrambled Tuesday to seal a $225 million boost to Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system before they break this week for a month-long recess.

Break up the states!  The case for the United Statelets of America  —  Here's how Wyoming, Vermont and North Dakota are exercising tyranny over the rest of us — and how to stop them  —  A ballot initiative that would support breaking California into six smaller and more coherent states …

George Zimmerman ‘patrolling’ Central Florida shop after gun theft  —  Owner of Pompano Pat's in DeLand says Zimmerman not working for him  —  DeLAND, Fla. -  —  Although he's not a hired security officer, George Zimmerman has been “patrolling” outside a Volusia County gun shop …

US is no safer after 13 years of war, a top Pentagon official says  —  The nation is no safer after 13 years of war, warns a top US military official who leads one of the nation's largest intelligence organizations.  —  “We have a whole gang of new actors out there that are far more extreme than Al Qaeda …

Rand Paul planning 2015 book.  Mean anything?  —  WASHINGTON - Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is working on a new book that will come out early next year - about the same time he will decide whether to run for president.  —  “Just coincidence, probably just coincidence, yeah,” the Republican said …

Peter Nathan Steinmetz, Barrow Brain Scientist, Arrested at Airport With AR-15  —  Dr. Peter Nathan Steinmetz, a brain scientist with Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, was arrested on Friday for mishandling his AR-15 in Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Legalization by Edict  —  Many people in Washington seem to be talking about the prospect of the president unilaterally legalizing the status of several million people who entered the country illegally as though it were just another political question.  But if reports about the nature …

How Military Guns Make the Civilian Market  —  The U.S. Army plans to select a new standard-issue handgun.  If history is a guide, similar pistols will soon start appearing at gun stores and crime scenes near you.  —  This week, the U.S. Army will brief arms manufacturers on the design requirements for a new standard-issue handgun.

Downscale  —  I recently had a conversation with an intensely conservative businessman whose first foray into politics was fighting for a tax hike on his business and others like it.  The little town where he lived as a young man had no paved roads, waterworks, or sewage facilities …