Welcome to the Republican Party's make-believe fight to defund Obamacare.  —  If you're in a hurry, and you can only memorize one fact about the coming congressional debt and budget war, try this: There will be no “defunding of Obamacare.”  It's impossible for Republicans to admit it …

Spitting on Their Graves: Democrats Leave Benghazi Hearing Before Testimony From Families of Victims  —  During the second portion of a House Oversight and Government Reform hearing about Benghazi Thursday on Capitol Hill, the majority of Democrats on the Committee left the room and refused …

EXCLUSIVE: Two decades after her affair with Bill Clinton, Gennifer Flowers reveals they'd be together now if it wasn't for Chelsea and how former president confided in her that Hillary was bisexual  — She bitterly regrets rejecting him when he last begged to see her and says he's the ‘love of her life’

Poison at the heart of Labour: Damaging questions for Miliband and Balls as explosive book reveals Brown's spin doctor ran smear campaigns from Downing Street  —  The toxic culture of spin, smears and feuding at the heart of New Labour is laid bare today in an explosive political memoir.

Pelosi unplugged  —  Striking a tone of disgust, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi ridicules the GOP as obsessed with its loathing of President Obama and hell-bent on hurting him politically, regardless the cost.  She assigns little to no blame to the president (even though Democrats privately …

Why Iran seeks constructive engagement  —  Hassan Rouhani is president of Iran.  —  Three months ago, my platform of “prudence and hope” gained a broad, popular mandate.  Iranians embraced my approach to domestic and international affairs because they saw it as long overdue.

The real Navy Yard scandal  —  In the liberal remake of “Casablanca,” the police captain comes upon the scene of the shooting and orders his men to “round up the usual weapons.”  —  It's always the weapon and never the shooter.  Twelve people are murdered in a rampage at the Washington Navy Yard …

World's top climate scientists told to ‘cover up’ the fact that the Earth's temperature hasn't risen for the last 15 years  —  Scientists working on the most authoritative study on climate change were urged to cover up the fact that the world's temperature hasn't risen for the last 15 years, it is claimed.

Rand Paul says recent GOP wins a roadmap for party's future  —  CHANTILLY, Va. — Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Thursday said Republicans have been “winning” recent Washington battles and laid out a roadmap  —  for how the party can use the victories to appeal to key voting blocks that fueled President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election.

Pricing Glitch Afflicts Rollout of Online Health Exchanges  —  Less than two weeks before the launch of insurance marketplaces created by the federal health overhaul, the government's software can't reliably determine how much people need to pay for coverage, according to insurance executives and people familiar with the program.

Justice Dept. watchdog never probed judges' NSA concerns  —  In response to a FOIA request from USA TODAY, the Justice Department said its ethics office never looked into complaints from two federal judges that they had been misled about NSA surveillance.  —  CONNECT

AllThingsD parting ways with Dow Jones  —  AllThingsD and The Wall Street Journal call it quits.  —  FORTUNE — The team behind influential tech site AllThingsD is severing ties with founding owner Dow Jones, a subsidiary of News Corp. (NWS).  A formal statement is expected later today.

The Crazy Party  —  Early this year, Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, made headlines by telling his fellow Republicans that they needed to stop being the “stupid party.”  Unfortunately, Mr. Jindal failed to offer any constructive suggestions about how they might do that.

A Big Heart Open to God  —  The exclusive interview with Pope Francis  —  Editor's Note: This interview with Pope Francis took place over the course of three meetings during August 2013 in Rome.  The interview was conducted in person by Antonio Spadaro, S.J., editor in chief of La Civiltà Cattolica, the Italian Jesuit journal.