Tidings of Comfort  —  Maybe I'm just projecting, but Christmas seemed unusually subdued this year.  The malls seemed less crowded than usual, the people glummer.  There was even less Muzak in the air.  And, in a way, that's not surprising: All year Americans have been bombarded …

GOP learns lessons from Sam Brownback's tax scare  —  Republicans once idolized the tax-cutting superstar; now they look askance at him.  —  Ohio Gov. John Kasich will roll out “responsible” tax plans that protect against revenue gaps.  Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Arizona's …

The Islamic State is failing at being a state  —  GAZIANTEP, Turkey — The Islamic State's vaunted exercise in state-building appears to be crumbling as living conditions deteriorate across the territories under its control, exposing the shortcomings of a group that devotes most of its energies …

Team Rubio: Jeb won't push us out of 2016 presidential race  —  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is planning to take a more active role on the national political stage next month, undeterred by his former mentor Jeb Bush's moves toward running for president.  —  Republican strategists predicted months ago …

Critics hate ‘The Interview’  —  Movie critics say the controversy surrounding “The Interview” is much more interesting than the movie itself  —  The movie is scoring just a 50 percent positive review from critics on the Rotten Tomatoes website.  —  It's fairing even more poorly with top critics …

Religion Without God  —  THIS Christmas our family will go to church.  The service is held in a beautiful old church in the charming town of Walpole, N.H., just over the border from Vermont.  The Lord's Prayer hangs on the wall behind the sanctuary.  A lectern rises above the nave to let the pastor look down on his flock.

Race and the race  —  The GOP's 2016 slate may be its most diverse ever, but don't expect the candidates to talk much about it.  —  Bobby Jindal is Indian-American, but you'll never hear him describe himself that way.  Marco Rubio insists he's an “American of Hispanic descent.”

U.S. Spy Agency Reports Improper Surveillance of Americans  —  The National Security Agency today released reports on intelligence collection that may have violated the law or U.S. policy over more than a decade, including unauthorized surveillance of Americans' overseas communications.

Ready for Pope Francis  —  What better time than Christmas to turn our thoughts to Pope Francis, a voice for our generation and all generations who teaches, as all great faiths teach, that those who have the most should extend their hands to those who have the least and that those who have power should serve those who do not.

Rock stars amp up in digital music copyright war  —  Platforms like Spotify, Pandora have raised the stakes in debate as Congress moves toward a comprehensive look at reform.  —  There are a lot of policy meetings on Capitol Hill — and they pretty much never end in song.

JetBlue offers to fly police to NYPD officer funerals  —  Shares -  —  JetBlue Airways (JBLU) is offering free flights to two officers from any U.S. law enforcement agency who wish to attend the funerals of slain New York City policemen Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos.

At Christmastime, George W. Bush was Santa, Obama is Scrooge … Every year, in the week between Christmas and New Year's, I think about George W. Bush.  —  It was in that week each year for the eight years that I covered him as a reporter that he gave me a spectacular gift — and he knew it.