Sharpening Contradictions: Why al-Qaeda attacked Satirists in Paris  —  The horrific murder of the editor, cartoonists and other staff of the irreverent satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, along with two policemen, by terrorists in Paris was in my view a strategic strike, aiming at polarizing the French and European public.

Why the Republican Congress's First Act Was to Declare War on Math  —  Budget nerds stood between them and their cherished tax cuts.  —  Shares  —  The first substantive act of the new, all-Republican Congress was a telling one: House and Senate leaders, now in partisan accord and able …

Boehner may let dissenters off the hook  —  A day after he took swift action to punish two allies who crossed him in Tuesday's vote for speaker, it looks like he might backtrack.  —  AP Photo  —  Some of the House conservatives who betrayed Speaker John Boehner might escape immediate retribution after all.

Rove: Common Core is Jeb's ‘biggest challenge’  —  Karl Rove says Jeb Bush's support for Common Core education standards will be the biggest obstacle he faces as he seeks the Republican presidential nomination.  —  “Common Core is, I think, the biggest challenge he faces,” Rove said Tuesday on the Fox News show “America's Newsroom.”

Grassley sets timetable for Loretta Lynch hearings  —  Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley plans to hold confirmation hearings for attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch in the last week of January or the beginning of February, an aide said Wednesday.

ISIS Is Losing Its Greatest Weapon: Momentum  —  There was a time when the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria appeared unstoppable.  In September and October, as the jihadist group captured territory through a major offensive in Iraq's Anbar province, culminating in the fall of the town of Hit on October 13 …

Exclusive: Bill Cosby Co-Star Tony Winner Phylicia Rashad Speaks Out for First Time, Defends Her Friend  —  EXCLUSIVE It was just happenstance: I ran into Tony winner Phylicia Rashad today at Paramount's super elegant lunch for the movie “Selma” at the Metropolitan Club.

The Problem With Meaning  —  Not long ago, a friend sent me a speech that the great civic leader John Gardner gave to the Stanford Alumni Association 61 years after he graduated from that college.  The speech is chock-full of practical wisdom.  I especially liked this passage:

Former ‘Onion’ editor: Freedom of speech cannot be killed  —  When I was editor there, The Onion was located in the heart of Manhattan and the one person manning our front entrance was our petite, tattooed office manager, Jessie.  She was the definition of unthreatening …