Murdoch's KGB-Friendly Series

In August, Rupert Murdoch's FX picked up a Cold War series set in the 1980s titled "The Americans." Liberals might have braced themselves for the worst. It sounded like some kind of Chuck Norris-style "jingoistic" homage to freedom-loving intelligence agents. But this is Hollywood, so the show instead focuses on KGB spies who speak perfect English, working to destroy Reagan-era America, which is not...

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The Truth About Bin Laden

At the very beginning of Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty," the audience is told that the movie they are about to see is "based on firsthand accounts of actual events." Then we hear tapes, terrifying if familiar, of those final calls being made by those trapped on 9/11.Then comes the torture.Bigelow has defended the scenes, which leave audience members rooting for our heroes (who are doing the...

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Are We Becoming European?

Following the fiscal cliff melodrama, Senator Richard Shelby appeared on television to declare that we are becoming European. "We're always wanting to spend and promise and spend and borrow but not cut. We've got to get real about this. We're headed down the road that Europe's already on."There's no "heading" about it. We're there. Prof. John J. DiIulio, writing in "National Affairs", outlined the...

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Can John Boehner regain control of the GOP?

Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) narrowly won a second term as Speaker of the House on Thursday, with 12 of his fellow Republicans either voting for somebody else or abstaining from supporting anyone. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) fared much better with her Democratic caucus, says Libby Spencer at The Impolitic, and during the roll call she "was actually tied with Boehner several times and at...

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5 hopeful signs the 113th Congress will be better than the last

Dispirited Americans don't appear all that optimistic that the new Congress will get much done, either. Well, buck up, America!With some pomp, a bunch of cute kids, and plenty of entertainment from Vice President Joe Biden, the new Congress was gaveled into session on Thursday. "Welcome 113th Congress!" says Chris Cillizza at The Washington Post, summing up the conventional wisdom: "Here's the first...

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Aboriginal leaders to launch national protest in Ottawa today demanding change

OTTAWA - Aboriginal leaders are set to march through the streets of Ottawa today after meeting with a chief who is on a hunger-strike.The leaders are taking part in a national protest march and rally organized by the movement dubbed Idle No More, which opposes the Harper government's omnibus budget legislation, Bill C-45.On the eve of the protest, Attawapiskat First Nation Chief Theresa Spence repeated...

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Mandatory minimums may face tough year in the courts with various challenges

TORONTO - The coming year could bring some clarity to the murky legal waters of the federal Conservatives' law-and-order agenda, particularly mandatory minimum sentences, even as new complications are added to the mix.One of the government's omnibus crime bills churned through the courts in 2012, with several planks falling victim to declarations of unconstitutionality. Meanwhile, a new slew of provisions...

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The Note's Must-Reads for Friday, December 21, 2012

The Note's Must-Reads are a round-up of today's political headlines and stories from ABC News and the top U.S. newspapers. Posted Monday through Friday right here at www.abcnews.comCompiled by ABC News' Amanda VanAllen, Ben Waldron and Jordan MazzaCOREY BOOKER ABC News' Sarah Parnass and Shushannah Walshe: " Newark Mayor Cory Booker to Explore Run for Senate in 2014? Popular Newark Mayor Cory Booker...

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UK banking review urges 'electrified' ringfence

LONDON (AP) -- The U.K. government needs to get tougher in its proposals to isolate banks' high-street activities from their riskier business, Britain's Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards says.The commission reported Friday that the government's proposals for a "ring-fence" to protect retail banks needs to be "electrified."Commission chairman Andrew Tyrie says that would mean giving regulators...

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Iraq's Sunni leaders accuse PM of crackdown

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Sunni leaders accused Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of a political crackdown after troops raided the finance minister's office and home, threatening to reignite a crisis a year after the last American troops left.The raids and detention of the Sunni minister's staff came hours after President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who often mediated among the fractious Sunni, Shi'ite...

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