Former RNC chairman: 'Black man's life not worth a ham sandwich'  —  Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele on Wednesday criticized grand jury decisions to not indict white police officers in the deaths of black men in New York and Ferguson, Mo.

Ben Carson Lashes Out At Wolf Blitzer: Don't ‘Focus On The Words’ When I Compare U.S. To Nazis  —  Possible Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson on Wednesday lashed out at CNN host Wolf Blitzer for “focusing on the words” that he used when he compared the United States to Nazi Germany.

Return of Focus Hocus Pocus  —  I've been getting correspondence from people saying that I need to respond to Tom Edsall channeling Chuck Schumer on how health reform was a mistake, Obama should have focused on the economy.  —  The thing is, I responded to this argument four years ago, and everything I said then still applies.

GOP unlikely to reverse ‘nuclear option’  —  GOP senators were outraged at Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for invoking the “nuclear option” last year, calling his push to weaken the filibuster on presidential nominees a destructive and heavy-handed move with far-reaching consequences.

Dear Media: This Elizabeth Lauten Nonsense Is Why Everybody Hates You  —  Last week, President Barack Obama pardoned a turkey prior to Thanksgiving Day, as is tradition.  And as in previous years, his teenage daughters Malia and Sasha stood by his side.  The daughters are cute as can be …

2014 Headed Toward Hottest Year On Record — Here's Why That's Remarkable  —  2014 is currently on track to be hottest year on record, according to new reports from both the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the U.K.'s Met Office Wednesday.  Similarly, NOAA reported two weeks ago …

4 Downs with Mike Ditka: Ferguson, Forte and is Briggs a HOFer?  —  Before Sunday's game, five St. Louis Rams players took the field in a “hands up, don't shoot” solidarity protest for Ferguson and Michael Brown.  —  Neither the NFL nor the Rams penalized the players for their actions.

Clinton in the void  —  She faces a challenge in how to spend her time before a 2016 decision  —  She's not going to announce her 2016 plans for at least another six weeks — possibly longer.  —  So the question for Hillary Clinton has become how to fill the space between the midterms …

Watchdog reveals thousands of docs relating to disclosure of taxpayer data to White House  —  A woman walks out of the Internal Revenue Service building in New York.  —  An IRS watchdog is acknowledging that thousands of documents related to requests between the White House and the tax agency for unauthorized tax information exist —