Obama in Winter  —  They say failure can be a good teacher, but, so far, the Obama administration is opting out of the course.  The post-midterm period has been one of the most bizarre of the Obama presidency.  President Obama has racked up some impressive foreign-policy accomplishments …

FBI Warns Ferguson Decision ‘Will Likely’ Lead to Violence By Extremists Protesters … As the nation waits to hear whether a Missouri police officer will face charges for killing unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., the FBI is warning law enforcement agencies across the country that the decision …

Keystone at Senate tipping point  —  Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and other supporters of the Keystone XL oil pipeline are stuck at 59 votes — one vote shy of the supermajority they need to move their bill forward on Tuesday.  —  Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) …

Why is Obama ignoring the experts on illegal immigration?  —  There are some important voices that have been starkly absent as President Obama gets ready to issue an executive order that would usurp federal immigration law in the coming days.  —  “We're all pretty much ticked,” …

On Obamacare, the G.O.P. Lays a Trap for Itself  —  A few days after the midterm elections, the Supreme Court announced that it would hear King v. Burwell, a challenge to the Affordable Care Act in which the plaintiffs are arguing that people who live in states which have not set …

In Mr. Obama's own words, acting alone is ‘not how our democracy functions’  —  DEMOCRATS URGING President Obama to “go big” in his executive order on immigration might pause to consider the following scenario:  —  It is 2017.  Newly elected President Ted Cruz (R) insists he has won a mandate to repeal Obamacare.

History Shows That Hillary Clinton Is Unlikely to Win in 2016  —  Republicans did well in the midterm elections, but there is widespread agreement that they face a demographic disadvantage in the 2016 presidential election, when many of the predominately Democratic younger and minority voters …

Uber Executive Suggests Digging Up Dirt On Journalists  —  Senior vice president Emil Michael floated making critics' personal lives fair game.  Michael apologized Monday for the remarks.  —  Emil Michael, senior vice president of business for Uber, in July.  —  David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

President Obama Orders Full Review of Hostage Negotiation Policy … President Obama has ordered a comprehensive review of policy dictating how the U.S. government tries to secure the freedom of Americans held hostage by terrorists abroad, a senior Pentagon official revealed in a recent letter to a member of Congress.

Democrats press Obama to wait on immigration executive action  —  President Obama has a tough decision to make on the timing of an executive order to freeze deportations of illegal immigrants.  —  Senate Democrats want him to wait to give them time to pass an omnibus spending bill …

Say it loud: Black, GOP and proud  —  As a black Democrat I have to say: 2014 was a marquee year for black Republicans.  —  But the reaction from the NAACP and black Democrats has been revulsion.  —  Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), a member of the Democratic House leadership …

AP Exclusive: Charles Manson gets marriage license  —  2 photos  —  CORCORAN, Calif. (AP) — Mass murderer Charles Manson plans to marry a 26-year-old woman who left her Midwestern home and spent the past nine years trying to help exonerate him.  —  Afton Elaine Burton, the raven-haired bride-to-be …

Ferguson correctional officer faces sex charges, rape lawsuit  —  • By Robert Patrick rpatrick@post-dispatch.com > 314-621-5154  —  FERGUSON  • Prosecutors have accused a Ferguson correctional officer of allowing an inmate to escape in 2013 in exchange for sex, but a civil suit calls it rape.

In GOP, a new voice of immigration dissent  —  He hasn't even taken his first vote in Congress, but incoming freshman Rep. Carlos Curbelo is already breaking with his party on immigration.  —  The Florida Republican is a vocal supporter of actions on immigration reform that many in the GOP have rejected …

A Crucial Vote on the Surveillance Bill  —  The Republican Party is so badly fractured that it is impossible to tell what steps it will take on domestic surveillance once it assumes control of Congress in January.  Its rising libertarian wing wants to crack down on abuses of Americans' privacy …

Fight the Power Grab  —  In our more frustrated moments, those of us who still hope to forestall the constitutional crisis that President Obama's executive action is almost certainly going to provoke will resign ourselves to showing rather than telling.  Thwarted by the considerable difficulty …