Bibi Netanyahu Makes Trump His Chump  —  For those of you confused over the latest fight between President Obama and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of Israel, let me make it simple: Barack Obama and John Kerry admire and want to preserve Israel as a Jewish and democratic state in the Land of Israel.

What's really bugging Trump about Obama  —  Donald Trump can't decide whether he thinks the transition of power is going well or not.  —  But he knows he doesn't like how much attention Barack Obama is getting and is also bothered by what Trump and his closest advisers see as an active effort …

Milo Yiannopoulos Strikes $250K Book Deal (Exclusive)  —  “They said banning me from Twitter would finish me off.  Just as I predicted, the opposite has happened,” says Yiannopoulos.  —  Milo Yiannopoulos has parlayed his ban from Twitter — and some controversial appearances on college campuses …

GOP Readies Swift Obamacare Repeal With No Replacement in Place  —  Senate will start in early January to repeal health-care law  —  Republicans split over how long to delay replacement plan  —  The first major act of the unified Republican government in 2017 will be a vote in Congress to begin tearing down Obamacare.

Debbie Reynolds, ‘Singin’ in the Rain' Star and Carrie Fisher's Mother, Dies at 84  —  Debbie Reynolds, the Oscar-nominated singer-actress who was the mother of late actress Carrie Fisher, has died at Cedars-Sinai hospital.  She was 84.  —  “She wanted to be with Carrie,” her son Todd Fisher told Variety.

A Preview of Obama's Post-Presidency  —  He's grumbling about Fox News and talk radio while feigning that he isn't partisan.  —  In two interviews over the holidays, President Obama signaled how he's likely to conduct himself once out of office: whiny, self-justifying and bursting with excuses.

Donald Trump Considers Moving VA Toward Privatization  —  Some veterans' advocates oppose moves to privatize Department of Veterans Affairs  —  President-elect Donald Trump is considering moving the Department of Veterans Affairs toward privatization, a transition team official said Wednesday …

The good that could come from a Trump presidency  —  Gloom is a terrible way to ring out the old, and despair is of no help in trying to imagine the new.  —  So let us consider what good might come from the political situation in which we will find ourselves in 2017.

Syria ceasefire deal reached between regime and rebels, Russia says  —  Istanbul, Turkey (CNN)The Syrian government and opposition rebels have agreed terms for a ceasefire in the country's long-running civil war, Vladimir Putin announced.  —  According to Russian state media TASS …

Americans — especially but not exclusively Trump voters — believe crazy, wrong things  —  Many Americans believe a lot of dumb, crazy, destructive, provably wrong stuff.  Lately this is especially (though not exclusively) true of Donald Trump voters, according to a new survey.

DMV licensed 800,000 undocumented immigrants under 2-year-old law  —  On the day that California officials implemented a controversial law that allows undocumented residents to obtain driver's licenses, DMV offices throughout the state were packed with immigrants looking to take advantage of the opportunity.

DC private schools giving Kellyanne Conway the brush-off  —  MORE FROM:  —  Kellyanne Conway is worried establishment elites in Washington, DC, are so prejudiced against President-elect Trump that she won't be able to get her kids into private school in the nation's capital.

What counties that flipped from Romney to Clinton have in common  —  A new analysis of housing prices reveals one way Hillary Clinton's and Donald Trump's supporters have been living in two economies.  One has benefited from lucrative but erratic progress in global markets …

US military could carry out first execution in over 50 years  —  (CNN)A former US Army soldier who has been on death row since 1988 for raping and murdering several women could now face execution after a judge denied his bid for another stay of execution.  —  Judge J. Thomas Marten …

Open Society Needs Defending  —  Open societies are in crisis, and various forms of closed societies - from fascist dictatorships to mafia states - are on the rise.  Because elected leaders failed to meet voters' legitimate expectations and aspirations, electorates have become disenchanted …

David Fahrenthold tells the behind-the-scenes story of his year covering Trump  —  “Arnold and Tim, if you'd come up, we're going to give you a nice, beautiful check,” Donald Trump said.  He held up an oversize check, the kind they give to people who win golf tournaments.  It was for $100,000.