A letter from a friend: Jackie's story is not a hoax  —  My name is Emily, and I was Jackie's suitemate first year.  I am writing to you in regards to Rolling Stone's recent statement of “misplaced trust” in Jackie.  I feel this statement is backwards, as it seems it was Jackie who misplaced her trust in Rolling Stone.

Dems, It's Time to Dump Dixie  —  With Mary Landrieu's ignominious exit, the Democrats will have lost their last senator in the Deep South.  And that's a good thing.  They should write it off—because they don't need it.  —  I don't remember a much sadder sight in domestic politics …

G.O.P. Donors Seek to Narrow Field of Presidential Candidates to One  —  Dozens of the Republican Party's leading presidential donors and fund-raisers have begun privately discussing how to clear the field for a single establishment candidate to carry the party's banner in 2016 …

Why Eric Garner is the turning point Ferguson never was  —  Ferguson, Mo., has captured the nation's attention for the better part of the past four months.  But in just a few short days in the national news, Eric Garner has become the political rallying point that Ferguson never has.

McConnell Plots a Functional, Bipartisan Senate  —  Sen. Mitch McConnell wants to hit the ground running in January — and he thinks Democrats are ready to join him in crafting a more open, functional Senate.  —  In an exclusive interview in his Capitol office suite, the incoming majority …

No comments.  An experiment in elevating the conversation  —  For the next two months, we are turning off the comment function on all editorials, columns and letters in the opinion section.  —  Why?  —  Ferguson.  —  Last Sunday, we challenged our region to have the serious discussion …

The College Rape Overcorrection  —  Sexual assault on campus is a serious problem.  But efforts to protect women from a putative epidemic of violence have led to misguided policies that infringe on the civil rights of men.  —  An Accusation  —  Drew Sterrett couldn't know that when his friend slipped …

California quake  —  Up-and-comers are already jockeying ahead of Boxer's possible retirement.  —  A parade of ambitious California public figures, who've spent years itching for a shot at the state's top political offices, are anticipating a shake-up of the state's political hierarchy …

Massive downtown L.A. fire burns 3 towers; freeways begin to reopen  —  A massive fire in downtown Los Angeles early Monday engulfed an apartment tower under construction, damaged two other buildings and left freeways and roads closed.  —  The northbound 110 Freeway remained closed as of 5 a.m. …

The Kochs eclipse the RNC  —  Meet the guys behind the right's best data shop.  —  The Koch brothers and their allies are pumping tens of millions of dollars into a data company that's developing detailed, state-of-the-art profiles of 250 million Americans, giving the brothers' political operation all the earmarks of a national party.

Why I'm Giving Up My Passport  —  LONDON — THE mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who was born in New York and holds both American and British passports, recently said that he would not pay a tax bill from the United States on capital gains from the sale of his home in the London borough of Islington.

CBC Member: Ben Carson Supporters Have “Vein Of Ignorance,” Are “Like A Lynch Mob”  —  “...when we have blacks like that trying to tap into the ignorance of people who have been whipped into a frenzy, like a lynch mob, and you go to try to garner support from those folks …