Trump's shutdown stunt is an act of needless stupidity  —  “IT'S ACTUALLY part of what you do when you sign up for any public service position.”  So said Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) when asked about the hundreds of thousands of federal workers who will have to work without pay …

Bolton's Hawkish Syria Plan Backfired, Pushing Trump to Get Out  —  The national security adviser expanded U.S. goals in Syria to challenge Iran.  But Trump wasn't on board, senior officials say, and Turkey took an opportunity to push the U.S. out.  —  A fateful decision by national security …

Trump Discusses Firing Fed's Powell After Latest Rate Hike, Sources Say  — Advisers warn ousting Fed chairman would lead to market rout  — President's legal authority to remove Powell is unclear  —  President Donald Trump has discussed firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell …

Trump lashed out at Whitaker after explosive Cohen revelations  —  Cohen says he lied about project in Moscow  —  Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump has at least twice in the past few weeks vented to his acting attorney general, angered by federal prosecutors who referenced …

Russians launched pro-Jill Stein social media blitz to help Trump win election, reports say  —  Building support for Stein was one of a “roster of themes” the Moscow-sanctioned internet trolls “turned to repeatedly,” report says.  —  Two days before the 2016 presidential election …

You Can't Serve Both Trump and America  —  The story is told of Jim Mattis, when he was the commanding general at Quantico, relieving a young lance corporal on Christmas.  The rest of that wintry day, those entering the front gate of the Marine base were startled to see that the sentry was a general …

The Syria Fairy Tale Lives!  —  Americans will no longer support Washington's incoherent Middle East adventurism.  —  Unlike my colleagues, I've been a bemused spectator during this week's Syria follies.  As readers of these columns know (see, e.g., here, here, here, here, and here) …

Student Targeted by ‘Troll Storm’ Hopes Settlement Will Send Message to White Supremacists  —  An African-American student leader who was targeted by a racist “troll storm” says she hopes an unusual legal settlement with one of her harassers will send a strong message to white supremacists …

A girl in Mexico attached her Christmas list to a balloon.  A man across the border found it.  —  The spot of red was what first caught Randy Heiss's attention last Sunday as he hiked the remote expanse of land behind his ranch in Patagonia, Ariz., a town near the U.S.-Mexico border.

Supreme Court refuses to restore Trump's temporary asylum restrictions  —  The Supreme Court on Friday refused a request from the Trump administration to restore newly implemented restrictions that would prevent some migrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally from applying for asylum.

“Some Reverse Wag-the-Dog Bulls—t": Boxed in and Fighting for Survival, Trump Is Flailing, Fuming, and Wondering Why Jared Is Getting All the Good Press  —  His base is revolting, his staff are rolling their eyes, and Ann Coulter called him “a joke.”  But, says a self-pitying president, Macron is worse.

Conservative Facts  —  The problem conservatism faces these days is that many of the loudest voices have decided to embrace the meanness while throwing away the facts. … D  —  ear Reader (including all you mole-rat monarchists),  —  One or two times a year I wake up in a Japanese family's living room …

It's official.  We lost the Cold War.  —  Perhaps the timing of George H.W. Bush's death last month was merciful.  This way he didn't have to see America lose the Cold War.  —  Bush presided over the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.  But the triumph he and others earned with American blood …

Mississippi's Republican governor quietly considering Medicaid expansion  —  JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi's Republican governor is considering Medicaid expansion, the first sign that long-held GOP opposition could be wilting in the Deep South after an election that was a big winner for the Obamacare program.

The Year of the Old Boys  —  It's hard to overstate the extent to which childish masculinity revealed itself in 2018 as the engine of power in America.  —  Many of us have spent 2018 trying to wrap our heads around how, exactly, the country whose slightly priggish brand was once meritocracy …

How Russian Money Helped Save Trump's Business  —  After his financial disasters two decades ago, no U.S. bank would touch him.  Then foreign money began flowing in.  —  In the fall of 1992, after he cut a deal with U.S. banks to work off nearly a billion dollars in personal debt …

Dow's worst week since 2008 financial crisis; Nasdaq closes in bear market  —  New York (CNN Business)The Dow just suffered its deepest weekly plunge since 2008 and the Nasdaq is officially in a bear market.  —  The miserable performance reflects deepening fears on Wall Street of an economic slowdown …