The Clinton Way … Photograph by Spencer Platt-Getty Images

Two police officers are shot in Ferguson  —  FERGUSON  • Two police officers were hit by gunfire early Thursday outside the Ferguson police department.  —  The shots were fired as police were confronting protesters who had gathered outside the police station.

Iran letter blowback startles GOP  —  John McCain: “It was kind of a very rapid process.  Everybody was looking forward to getting out of town because of the snowstorm.”  —  Some Republican senators admitted Wednesday they were caught off guard by the backlash to a letter warning Iranian leaders …

Sir Terry Pratchett, renowned fantasy author, dies aged 66  —  Fantasy author Sir Terry Pratchett has died aged 66, having had Alzheimer's disease for eight years.  —  “The world has lost one of its brightest, sharpest minds,” said Larry Finlay of his publishing company, Transworld.

Rudy Giuliani says Obama should be more like Bill Cosby, blames Brooklyn McDonald's fight, Ferguson cop shootings on President  —  Just when you thought Rudy Giuliani couldn't get crazier, the former NYC mayor blamed Obama for the brutal beatdown at a Brooklyn McDonalds — and said the president should be more like Bill Cosby.

Democrats Have No Bench?  Be Serious.  —  Dan Balz of the Washington Post says Democrats have a problem for 2016: “The absence of a strong Democratic bench.”  National Journal's Josh Kraushaar replies, “Spot-on.”  The New York Times repeats the “weak bench” line and quotes Democrats who agree …

Ted Cruz Without Applause is the Most Gripping Video You'll See All Day  —  The Texas senator tanks at a presidential forum.  —  If, like many Americans, your job involves watching a lot of speeches by Ted Cruz, you have grown familiar with the Texas senator's applause lines.

Secret Service agents disrupted bomb investigation at White House  —  Two Secret Service agents suspected of driving under the influence and striking a White House security barricade disrupted an active bomb investigation and may have driven over the suspicious package itself …

VIDEO: 4 teens viciously beat girl in Brooklyn McDonald's as crowd cheers … FLATBUSH, Brooklyn (PIX11) - Cell phone video shows a 15-year-old girl being beaten to the ground by 4 other teens inside a Brooklyn McDonald's as dozens watched and cheered.  —  The savage fight broke out inside …

Kerry mocks Florida's reported ban on ‘climate change’  —  Secretary of State John Kerry mocked Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) and his deputies Thursday amid reports that the state's environmental agency banned employees from mentioning climate change.  —  Though he did not mention Florida by name …

Univision host fired for ‘Planet of the Apes’ Michelle Obama remark  —  A popular Univision talk show host has been fired for making derogatory comments about Michelle Obama during a popular television show; the comments were widely circulated on social media.

For 20 years I fought the law.  Today the law won  —  The police have been trying to nail an editor for years.  This morning, on Hampstead Heath, they finally got one  —  ell, I nearly made it.  More than 20 years of editing, with all kinds of people wanting to sue me and do me for sedition …

Progressives: We've Never Heard Of This “Progressive” Group Backing Obama's Trade Deal  —  The “Progressive Coalition For American Jobs,” run by former Obama campaign staffers, purports to represent the progressive left on the trade deal that the progressive left hates.  —  Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

Story Highlights  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans continue to name the government (18%) as the most important U.S. problem, a distinction it has had for the past four months.  Americans' mentions of the economy as the top problem (11%) dropped this month, leaving it tied with jobs (10%) for second place.

Justice Obama  —  So in his turn writing “Tilting at Windmills” in the latest issue of the Washington Monthly, contributing editor (and esteemed friend) Steven Waldman needs just three sentences to toss out a very interesting idea: … Jeffrey Toobin actually devoted a long op-ed back in 2010 …

Last Secrets of the Bush Administration  —  How to find out what we still don't know.  —  In March 2001, U.S. Archivist John W. Carlin received a letter from Alberto Gonzales, then counsel to the newly inaugurated president George W. Bush.  It concerned an important deadline that was looming—one that Bush owed to Richard Nixon.