Sony Pictures Pulls ‘The Interview’ After Cyber Attacks, Threats; North Korea Suspected

With major theater chains having pulled out, Sony bowed to the inevitable, but now there appears to be proof that a foreign power is behind the Sony hacking attacks and threats of violence.

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Obama’s Cuba Policy Shift Faces Headwinds On Capitol Hill

The fate of Cuba policy in Congress is far from certain, but what is certain is that following through on President Obama’s historic and necessary changes will face resistance.

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American Held By Cuba Released, U.S. And Cuba To Begin Talks On Normalizing Relations

An American freed from captivity, and potentially huge changes in America’s diplomatic and trade relationship with Cuba.

Supreme Court: Amazon Employees Don’t Have To Be Paid To Wait In Line To Leave Work

The Court holds that Federal Law does not require employees to be paid for the time waiting to get through mandatory security screening.

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Senate Intelligence Committee Report Reveals A Dark and Regrettable Time In American History

A dark and regrettable time in American history is finally seeing the light of day.

Texas, 16 Other States, File Lawsuit Over Obama’s Immigration Executive Action

Texas has joined with 16 other states in a lawsuit against the Obama Administration over the President’s executive action on immigration. At first glance, it doesn’t appear to have much legal merit.

Ben Carson, Not A Serious Candidate, Still Equates America To Nazi Germany

Ben Carson is not a serious candidate for President, but he’s likely to get a lot of support from the GOP’s Tea Party wing.

Obama Favoring Donors In Ambassador Appointments? No More Than Previous Presidents

The Obama Administration took some fire yesterday for recent Ambassadorial Appointments, but the President’s record has been consistent with those of his recent predecessors.

F.D.A.’s Mandatory Menu Labeling Regulations Won’t Work, Could Hurt Consumers

The Food & Drug Administration’s new regulations requiring calorie and other information on menus in restaurants and elsewhere won’t work, could limit consumer choice, and may not be Constitutional.

How To Argue With Family About Controversial Political Topics At Thanksgiving: Don’t

Today is a day for turkey and football, not a day for politics.

The House Lawsuit Against Obama; Full Of Sound And Fury, Signifying Nothing

The House of Representatives has filed its lawsuit against the President. As expected, it doesn’t amount to much.

U.S. Bombings Driving Anti-Assad Rebels To Support ISIS

Our supposed Syrian allies seem to have a different idea of who the enemy in Syria actually is.

America’s 500th Drone Strike

The shocking has become routine. We’re no safer because of it.

House Intelligence Committee Benghazi Report Debunks Benghazi Conspiracy Theories

The House Intelligence Committee has concluded that the conspiracy theories regarding the 9/11/2012 attack in Benghazi are not supported by the evidence. That’s unlikely to change anyone’s mind, though.

Quietly, Obama Decides American Forces Will Continue To Engage In Combat In Afghanistan After 2014

You thought the American combat role in Afghanistan would end on December 31st? Think again.

DOJ Finds President Lacks Authority to Take Action He Took Next Day

The Office of Legal Counsel told the president Wednesday he couldn’t do what he did on Thursday.

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Obama Announces Immigration Plan, But Constitutional Confrontation Lies Ahead

On substance, the President’s immigration actions aren’t very objectionable. How he is implementing them, though, is problematic and seems needlessly confrontational.

Should The U.S. Reconsider Its Policy Of Not Paying Ransom For Hostages?

The idea that the U.S. does not negotiate with terrorists is simply not historically accurate, so should we be reconsidering the policy of not negotiating with ISIS for the release of Western hostages?

Can Hillary Expand The Electoral College Map In 2016? In An Important Sense, It Doesn’t Matter

An adviser close to Hillary Clinton is talking about expanding the Electoral College map in 2016, but even without such an expansion the GOP faces an uphill battle.

President Obama Was Against Unilateral Executive Action On Immigration Before He Was For it

If the President now believes he can act unilaterally on immigration reform, why did he spend the last five years saying that he couldn’t?

Keystone XL Likely To Pass Senate, But It Won’t Save Mary Landrieu

Approval of the Keystone XL pipeline will likely pass the Senate today, and will eventually go forward despite an expected Presidential veto. But, Mary Landrieu’s political career is still dead.

Election Losses Lead To Debate Inside Democratic Party

Another round of election losses is leading Democrats to contemplate the direction they should take going forward.

If Obama Pulls The Trigger On Executive Action, Republicans Have Limited Options

Republicans don’t really have many options if the President pulls the trigger on immigration reform via executive action.

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Will Congressional Republicans Listen To Their Base, Or To The American Public?

Post-election polling shows that the majority of Americans want the new GOP majority in Congress to work together with the President. Republican voters have a very different view.

Say, Whatever Happened To The Ebola Crisis?

Much like the disease itself, Ebola panic seems to have disappeared as the midterm elections become ever more distant in the rear view mirror.

With GOP Wins, The Tea Party v. Establishment Battle Moves Into The Halls Of Congress

The GOP’s big wins last week seem to be just guaranteeing that this year’s battle between the Tea Party and the “establishment” will continue.

2014 And The Latino Vote

Republicans performed better among Latino voters this year than they did in 2012, but that doesn’t mean they’ve solved their problems.

Two Americans Released By North Korea After High Profile Visit

Good news for two released Americans, but no clue what’s motivating North Korea’s latest actions.

Supreme Court Accepts Appeal In Obamacare Subsidies Case

Somewhat surprisingly, the Supreme Court has accepted the appeal of a case that could completely gut the financial structure of the Affordable Care Act.

Voters In Washington, D.C. And Oregon, And Probably Alaska, Approve Marijuana Legalization

Big victories for advocates of marijuana legalization.

Supreme Court To Decide If Congress Can Dictate Where Jerusalem Is

The Supreme Court will decide if Congress can override American foreign policy when it comes to declaring who has dominion over Jerusalem.

The End Of Private Industry In Space? Hardly

A pair of accidents has led some to wonder if we are at the end of commercial ventures in space. Clearly, we are not.

Rand Paul’s Foreign Policy Ideas Present An Opportunity For the GOP

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul continues to challenge Republican orthodoxy on foreign policy, and that’s a good thing.

US, UK Declare Victory in Helmand and Go Home

We’ve handed off operations in Helmand Province to the Afghanistan army.

Whatever Happened To That Lawsuit The House Of Representatives Was Filing Against Obama?

It’s been three months, but there’s been no action on the lawsuit that the House of Representatives said it was filing against President Obama.

F.B.I. Director Hints At Regulatory Action Against Apple, Google Over Encyrption

Law enforcement remains unhappy about the recent changes that will make it harder to break into a locked smartphone.

Problems With The Response To Ebola, And A Little Perspective

We’ve become aware of failures in how we’ve handled the Ebola situation. The response is to figure out what went wrong and do our best to fix it, not to panic.

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Alison Lundergan Grimes Really Doesn’t Want To Admit She Voted For Obama

Sometimes, being evasive in answering a question just makes a politician look silly. This is one of those times.

Turkey Refusing to Fight ISIS Right on Its Border

A massacre is about to unfold “a stone’s throw” from Turkey’s border.

Ebola In The Age Of 24/7 News And A Broken Political Culture

Combining politics, an incessantly sensationalist news cycle, and a virus that scares a lot of people can’t end well.

Lindsey Graham Says He’s Thinking About Running For President

It has nothing to do with winning, but it does have a lot to do with the foreign policy debate inside the Republican Party.

The U.S. Should Stay Quiet About The Protests In Hong Kong

In the current situation, speaking out forcefully as some are demanding can only do more harm than good.

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Congress Has Abdicated Its Constitutional Responsibility In The War Against ISIS

Speaker Boehner wants to delay a vote on the ISIS war until January, but any such debate will be meaningless because Congress has already abdicated responsibility.

Second Term Blues?

The sixth year of a presidency leads to some predictable commentary (and some comparative notes).