Trump calls ‘highly respected’ Putin's comments a ‘great honor’  —  Donald Trump said on Thursday it was a “great honor” to be complimented by “highly respected” Russian President Vladimir Putin.  —  “It is always a great honor to be so nicely complimented by a man so highly respected within …

Watch Ted Cruz Flub A Fox News Interview On Immigration  —  He struggled to defend confusing claims he made during Tuesday's GOP debate.  —  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) got a little flustered trying to defend his opposition to immigration reform on Wednesday.  —  Fox News' Bret Baier grilled …

Shkreli, CEO Reviled for Drug Price Gouging, Arrested on Securities Fraud Charges  —  32-year-old suspected of plundering Retrophin to pay debts

New York Times reviewing reporting on San Bernardino assailants  —  The New York Times is taking a second look at its reporting on the Internet activities of the assailants in the San Bernardino, Calif., massacre, according to Executive Editor Dean Baquet.  “We are reporting it out,” Baquet told the Erik Wemple Blog in an email.

The Electoral College Challenge  —  One of the fundamental errors of analysis that Republican strategists made in 2012 was their presumption that African-American voters would be less enthusiastic about reelecting Barack Obama than they had been about electing him in the first place.

Bad blood: Reid-McConnell relationship hits new low  —  Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell sat down for a rare face-to-face meeting on the last day of November.  The agenda was straightforward — plotting out the legislative agenda for the end of the year — but what transpired has pushed …

Democracy For America Endorses Sanders Over Clinton  —  WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders added more progressive grassroots support to his campaign Thursday, picking up the endorsement of the Vermont-based Democracy For America, which was founded out of Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign.

Mike Huckabee cuts salaries of senior staff  —  Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign, struggling with its low standing in the polls and underwhelming fundraising, slashed the salaries of senior staffers amid the departure of its top communications aide.

The Election and the Death Throes of White Male Power  —  The rage on the main stage of the debate is just a mirror to what is brewing across the country in the face of extraordinary change.  —  4.5k  —  4k  —  Pin It  —  On Monday night, protesters interrupted a Donald Trump rally …

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert recovering from stroke  —  Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who's awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty in a federal hush money case, suffered a stroke and has been hospitalized for about six weeks, his lawyer said Thursday.

Adelson son-in-law orchestrated family's purchase of Las Vegas Review-Journal  —  The son-in-law of billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson arranged the $140 million purchase of the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Adelson's behalf, sources confirmed Wednesday.  —  Patrick Dumont …

GOP Operative Launches Super PAC to Sully Donald Trump's Rivals  —  Republican operative Roger Stone, who says he is no longer working for Donald Trump but continues to back his presidential campaign, is launching a super PAC to attack leading rivals, particularly Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

FBI: Harrisburg teen planned to carry out attack on US soil  —  HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) - A Harrisburg teen has been arrested and charged in connection to conspiring and assisting persons seeking to travel to and fight for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Millionaire Cleared of Rape Charge After Claiming He Tripped and His Penis Fell Into Teen  —  That's not how these things work.  —  37.8k  —  32.7k  —  5k  —  Pin It  —  Ehsan Abdulaziz, a Saudi millionaire property developer, was cleared of rape charges in London this week …

Massachusetts Court: Catholic School Can't Refuse To Hire Married Gay Man  —  via Fontbonne Academy website / Via fontbonneacademy.org  —  WASHINGTON — A state court in Massachusetts has ruled that a Catholic preparatory school violated the state's antidiscrimination law when it rescinded …

Fighting for Full Equality for LGBT People  —  Thanks to the hard work of generations of LGBT advocates and activists who fought to make it possible, our country won a landmark victory this past June when the Supreme Court recognized that in America, under our Constitution, LGBT couples …

As lawmakers clash over refugees, Syrian immigration quietly tops 100,000 since 2012  —  A proposal to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees to the United States has ignited a bitter debate in Washington, but more than 10 times that number of people from the embattled country have quietly come to America since 2012 …

Gaffney's ‘Summit’ in Nevada a Nonstop Procession of Extremism, Conspiracism — and Candidates  —  The Center for Security Policy puts a veneer of normalcy on a daylong program of fearmongering and conspiracy, even as it's being courted by GOP presidential candidates.

Sheriff's Deputy Resigns After Joking About Killing ‘Black Lives Matter’ Activists On Facebook  —  Jason Shierling quit his job as sheriff's deputy of Thomas County, Georgia, after he was suspended without pay for apparently making a joke about killing Black Lives Matter activists in a Facebook post.

Can we stop pretending that Republicans care about the deficit now?  —  Congress is about to pass a package that will keep the government operating through next September.  And in order to sweeten the deal for conservative Republicans who would rather not spend money to have the government operate …