FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST — In the movie Ben Hur, one of the Persian Magi who worshipped Christ in Bethlehem returned to Judea 30 years later to see the adult messiah-king. The old Magi mentioned to Ben Hur that the Christ was close to Ben Hur in age and was geographically close to them... (more)

WES VERNON, RA ANALYST — Almost any other presidency would by embarrassed by a report from within its own administration that exposes its number one legislative priority as an anti-family fraud. But not the Obama White House. Its response to a negative study of its Health "Care" bill resembles Al Gore's reaction to contradictions to the "sky-is-falling" hysteria over "man-made Global Warming": Ignore it and hope it goes away... (more)

JEROME R. CORSI — Watching the Senate press last week toward passage of President Obama's universal health care, my Red Alert is forced to contemplate whether a socialist agenda is intending to bankrupt the United States with trillion-dollar social-welfare programs there is no way the country will ever be able to afford... (more)

JOHN W. WHITEHEAD — Nat Hentoff has had a life well spent, one chock full of controversy fueled by his passion for the protection of civil liberties and human rights... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — The Senate on Sunday sent President Obama another hot potato, passing a $1.1 trillion catchall spending bill that includes money needed to run dozens of government agencies but also is loaded with pork-barrel spending... (more)

ASSOCIATED PRESS — Houston became the largest U.S. city to elect an openly gay mayor, with voters handing a solid victory to City Controller Annise Parker after a hotly contested runoff. Parker defeated former city attorney Gene Locke with 53.6 percent of the vote Saturday in a race that had a turnout of only 16.5 percent... (more)

WORLDNETDAILY — The lawyer who handled the years-long battle by Pastor Stephen Boissoin over "hate speech" charges for a letter he wrote to the editor of a local newspaper that cited the Bible's condemnation of homosexuality is forecasting a nationwide "witch hunt" in the U.S. prompted by an expanded "hate crimes" law signed by President Obama... (more)

WORLDNETDAILY — New military rules of engagement ostensibly to protect Afghan civilians are putting the lives of U.S. forces in jeopardy, claim Army and Marine sources, as the Taliban learns to game plan based the rules' imposed limits... (more)

KEN KLUKOWSKI AND KEN BLACKWELL — Many have heard about the historic gun rights case going to the Supreme Court. Fewer have heard that this is also a major case for businesses and family values. It could lead to anything from court-ordered Obamacare to same-sex marriage. This is the biggest case of the year, and everyone has a stake in it... (more)

NEWSMAX — Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe tells Newsmax that the climategate scandal is the "clincher" that kills once and for all the cap-and-trade proposal to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Inhofe, the senior Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, also said Democrats are "flat-out lying" and doing a "great disservice" to the rest of world by claiming Congress will take major steps to curb emissions... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — The House on Friday passed the most sweeping regulatory overhaul of the nation's financial sector since the New Deal, a measure that calls for greater consumer protections and tighter government control of the industry... (more)

ASSOCIATED PRESS — The U.S. government's move this fall to cut off funding to ACORN was unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled Friday, handing the embattled group a legal victory. U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon issued the preliminary injunction against the government, saying it's in the public's interest for the organization to continue receiving federal funding... (more)

NEWSMAX — Democrats are in disarray over healthcare reform, and opponents should keep up the pressure to defeat the reform effort, says Newsmax columnist Dick Morris. In an interview with Newsmax.TV's Ashley Martella, Morris said now that Democrats have been forced to abandon the public option, they are trying to impose expensive changes in Medicare and Medicaid instead... (more)

WORLDNETDAILY — Seven out of every 10 American colleges and universities censor speech with rules that violate the U.S Constitution, according to a new report from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education... (more)

LOS ANGELES TIMES — A federal appeals court panel today denied gay marriage supporters' demands to see internal campaign communications among Proposition 8 supporters, ruling that to do so would violate the 1st Amendment's guarantee of freedom of association... (more)

MARTIN COHEN — The Copenhagen summit is in full force, and so too is the idea that man-made global warming is incontrovertible. But Martin Cohen argues that the consensus is less a triumph of science and rationality than of PR and fear-mongering... (more)

KEN CONNOR — As the political seas continue to churn over issues such as abortion, healthcare, cap-and-trade, bailouts, the war, and Climategate, the ideological divisions between the two major parties appear to run deeper than ever before. On top of this, it's become clear that both the Democrat and the Republican parties are experiencing an internal identity crisis -- a problem that makes it difficult for either group to articulate a clear and unified agenda... (more)

POLITICS IN MINNESOTA — U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann is among the Republican voices that Washington insiders would most like to "mute," according to a new survey by The National Journal. Among GOP respondents, "no one" was the top choice of which individuals they'd like to hear less from, named by 16 percent of those surveyed... (more)

ASSOCIATED PRESS — It's been the year of the gun in Tennessee. In a flurry of legislative action, handgun owners won the right to take their weapons onto sports fields and playgrounds and, at least briefly, into bars... (more)

QUIN HILLYER — Property rights are under assault on at least six different fronts, from all branches and levels of government. The only encouraging news is that a seventh front - the beachfront property of Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens - may keep property rights from being entirely routed... (more)