MUSLIMS ARE RIGHT TO BE ANGRY  —  Bill Donohue comments on the killing of 12 people at the Paris office of the newspaper Charlie Hebdo:  —  Killing in response to insult, no matter how gross, must be unequivocally condemned.  That is why what happened in Paris cannot be tolerated.

Dems Respond To McConnell Taking Credit For Economic Growth: ‘Hahahahahahahahahahaha’  —  The way Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) sees it, recent good news on the American economy is directly linked to the fact that there's a new Republican majority in Congress.

Boehner defends retribution  —  A day after winning his third term as Speaker, John Boehner (R-Ohio) said his conference had begun a “family conversation” about how to respond to the 25 conservatives who revolted and voted against him on the floor.  —  Boehner confirmed that the Rules …

Neil deGrasse Tyson Gets a Late-Night Nat Geo Talk Show  —  Neil deGrasse Tyson is getting his own show.  —  The astrophysicist and TV personality, who fronted Cosmos in 2014, has nabbed a late-night series on National Geographic Channel called Star Talk.  —  “Cosmos allowed us to share …

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 …

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:

Bills target gun rights education in schools  —  Jon Bailey spent a Friday afternoon over Christmas break taking his 13-year-old son, Connor, to shoot pistols at Allen Arms Indoor Range in Greenville.  —  He showed Connor how to load, aim and fire the weapon, but he also instructed …

Walker builds 2016 team with likely campaign manager  —  Story highlights  —  (CNN)Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will launch a new political organization in the coming weeks and has tapped a national political strategist to serve as his campaign manager should he decide to run for president, multiple GOP sources told CNN.

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.”