Stage set for final GOP debate of 2015  —  Watch CNN's coverage of the fifth Republican presidential debate live from Las Vegas on Tuesday, December 15.  Coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET.  —  Washington (CNN)Nine candidates will appear in prime-time Tuesday night for the final Republican …

Donald Trump: Hillary ‘killed hundreds of thousands of people with her stupidity’  —  DON'T MISS STORIES.  FOLLOW RAW STORY!  —  Republican presidential Donald Trump asserted on Sunday that Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton had killed “hundreds of thousands of people with her stupidity.”

Diversity: Seven notes  —  Scott's six notes on “mismatch” add a much needed clarity to the discussion of race-based preferential admissions to college.  I want to add seven notes on the concept of diversity, which Scott discussed.  —  Note 1: The ideology of diversity is, as Scott says, relatively new.

Obama: Chessmaster, not Pawn … Four years ago at this time, I was in the middle of writing what became a cover story with the (immodest) title “Obama, Explained.”  In it, I examined whether the slow, understated, long-game approach of a one-term president about to run for re-election …

Rubio Outlines Plan To End Marriage Equality  —  In the landmark case of Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court found that same-sex marriage is a Constitutional right protected by the 14th Amendment.  —  Sunday on NBC's Meet The Press, Marco Rubio pledged, as President, to change that.

Missouri police chief resigns after caging family's lost puppy at a gun range and shooting it  —  DON'T MISS STORIES.  FOLLOW RAW STORY!  —  Police Chief Andrew Spencer resigned this week after it was revealed that he shot and killed an innocent dog that was in a cage and meant no one any harm.

'Libtard'-hating ex-police chief accused of pointing gun at woman who passed his Hummer  —  DON'T MISS STORIES.  FOLLOW RAW STORY!  —  A former Pennsylvania police chief infamous for his profane video rants — punctuated by gunfire — against “libtards” has been arrested on harassment and terrorist threat charges.

UNT police officer fatally shoots ax-wielding student near campus  —  The University of North Texas says Texas Rangers will help investigate an officer-involved shooting that left a man dead just off campus.  The body of the man who was shot has been obscured in this photograph from Bink Ruckthongsook.

Police ask community for video footage of man killed by officer after endangering child, officer  —  Neighbor, friend describes the 24-year-old as silly, normal person  —  Raymond Bennett's fiancée woke him up around noon Saturday in a panic.  —  “Raymond,” she said, “someone just got killed out here.”

NY Times Editors Continued War on Reality  —  The Times editors - yes, the folks who recently linked to an Onion wanna-be for factual support - continue their editorializing on guns, and the issue is far too important to let tedious facts get in their way:  —  Despair Over Gun Deaths Is Not an Option

Playing with fear  —  In America and Europe, right-wing populist politicians are on the march.  The threat is real  —  From the print edition  —  POPULISTS have a new grievance.  For many years, on both sides of the Atlantic, they have thrived on the belief that a selfish elite cannot …

Bridgegate racks up $8 million in legal fees  —  The law firm Gibson Dunn has billed New Jersey roughly $8 million since it was hired to defend Gov. Chris Christie (R) for the “Bridgegate” scandal, according to the Associated Press.  —  Christie, a Republican presidential candidate …

A top Democratic opposition research group says it won't go after Marco Rubio — but why?  —  After an early career as a conservative operative dedicated to bringing down Bill Clinton, David Brock has emerged as one of the top guys in the world of Democratic-aligned fundraising, messaging, and opposition research.