Jay Carney joins CNN  —  Former White House Press Secretary Jay Carney will join CNN as a political commentator, the network announced Wednesday.  —  He will start Wednesday night as President Barack Obama makes a primetime statement about the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant , Sam Feist …

Obama Ready to Authorize Airstrikes on ISIS in Syria  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama is prepared to authorize airstrikes in Syria, a senior administration official said on Tuesday, taking the military campaign against the Sunni militant group, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, into new and unpredictable terrain.

'Real Time"s Maher ‘could’ vote for Paul  —  Longtime viewers of Bill Maher on HBO's “Real Time” may be surprised to learn the liberal-leaning host, who makes a habit of skewering Republicans on a weekly basis, is “considering” casting a vote for one come 2016.  —  “Rand Paul is an interesting candidate to me.

LETTER: HOLDER AIDE ACCIDENTALLY CALLS ISSA STAFF FOR HELP SPINNING IRS SCANDAL  —  A senior communications aide to Attorney General Eric Holder seemingly called House oversight committee chairman Darrell Issa's staff by accident and asked for their help spinning new revelations about the IRS scandal …

Ted Cruz: Amendment threatens SNL  —  Sen. Ted Cruz says the comedy of NBC's “Saturday Night Live” is at risk and creator Lorne Michaels could be thrown in jail if a proposed Constitutional amendment on campaign finance is passed.  —  “Congress would have the power to make it a criminal offense …

How Stephen King Teaches Writing  —  Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft has been a fixture in my English classroom for years, but it wasn't until this summer, when I began teaching in a residential drug and alcohol rehab, that I discovered the full measure of its worth.

People hate the Republican Party.  But they really don't.  —  The reclamation project that is the Republican Party has long been stunted by one pesky fact: People freaking hate the Republican Party.  —  Well, kind of.  —  Poll after poll shows President Obama is unpopular …

US Rep. Tierney Concedes Defeat in Dem Primary  —  In a stunning defeat, nine-term incumbent U.S. Rep. John Tierney on Tuesday lost a bitter Democratic primary contest to political newcomer Seth Moulton in the state's 6th Congressional District.  —  Tierney is the first sitting Massachusetts congressman …

The teacher (and English graduate) who admits: I'm illiterate - SARAH SMITH blames liberal education dogmas for creating a generation of hopelessly ill-equipped teachers  —  My hands were feeling clammy and beads of sweat broke out under my collar as I shifted nervously in my seat.  It was parents' evening.

GOP's Benghazi meter does not read victory  —  Just a tiny bit over a year ago I wrote a column for this publication indicating that the Republicans had not been right about a single thing so far this century.  Sports gamblers have a name for when you don't win a single bet over a weekend …

Beware GOP: Millennials Don't Like What We're Hearing  —  The Republican establishment seems unaware of the power of young libertarians.  —  Depending on which Republicans you listen to, the rise of libertarian views among millennial Americans is either nonexistent, a great threat to the country or both.

State launches fraud investigation into voter registration group  —  ATLANTA —  Channel 2 Action News has learned Georgia's secretary of state is investigating allegations of forged voter registration applications and demanding records from a voter registration group with ties to one of the state's highest ranking Democrats.

Obama's Most Important Achievement in the Middle East  —  The president is a superior terrorist hunter.  He has also neutralized a profound existential threat to U.S. allies in the Middle East, and denied ISIS access to vast storehouses of deadly chemical weapons.  So why does he get no credit?

Federal judges question why John Doe issue is before them  —  By Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel  —  Chicago — A panel of three federal appeals judges on Tuesday questioned why they had been brought into a stalled criminal investigation into campaign activity by Gov. Scott Walker …

How Scalia's Beliefs Completely Changed the Supreme Court  —  And therefore, the country  —  Scalia: A Court of One by Bruce Allen Murphy (Simon & Schuster).  —  On October 15, 1987, as Justice Antonin Scalia settled into his second term at the Supreme Court, he emerged from conference …

8 a.m. Is the Most Anxious Hour  —  Crisis Text Line's data troves reveal the times of day and days of the week when we feel bullied, depressed, or alone.  —  Select a condition from the menu box above to see the hourly breakdown of texts to Crisis Text Line for that issue.

Karl Rove, the Koch Brothers and the End of Political Transparency  —  Tax-exempt “social welfare” organizations, the new political weapons of choice, are widening the gap between the rich people who control campaign financing and the economically anxious voters targeted by their ads.