The new Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, summed up his House Republican agenda -- vowing to pursue legislation that would frame a stark choice for voters in 2016. "Our No. 1 goal for the next year is to put together a complete alternative to the left's agenda," he said. Despite the speech's sweeping oratory and careful stagecraft, Ryan clings to seven dumb ideas that will only help the rich.

A successful law school experience requires years of dedication and costs tens of thousands of dollars or more in tuition and other fees, but even so, the path to a successful career as an attorney is far from secure as law school graduate numbers far outpace the number of available attorney jobs. Law schools should be using predictive analytics to help undergraduates determine if law school is really the right path.

Chris Matthews did not mince words. He justifiably hit Donald Trump in the jugular for his attempt to smear the president over the attack in San Bernardino, California. "I have from the beginning seen Trump as a mixed bag," he said. "But this birtherism which he exhumed today is the bad he carries with him, refuses to dump, and is so willing to sell."

The sordid history of the past 14 years of the United States imprisoning 779 persons from 48 countries on a U.S. military base in Cuba as a part of its global war "on terror" reflects the mentality of those who govern the United States -- global intervention for political or economic reasons, invasion, occupation other countries and leaving its military bases in those countries for decades.

FBI official David Bowdich issued this statement immediately after the mass killing in San Bernardino by alleged shooters Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, "It would be irresponsible and premature for me to call this terrorism. The FBI defines terrorism very specifically, and that is the big question for us: What is the motivation for this?" Two days later FBI Director James Comey finally did use the word "terrorism" in a