Signs of a new political culture abound. Call it the era of “reverse pork barrel.”

Jennifer Rubin says Mike Pence is underestimated.

On the eve of Thanksgiving, Howard Dean writes about the troops in an email to his supporters. No, Dr. Dean doesn't find space to thank those who are serving our country--it's just an opportunity to rail against the "shameful policy" of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Oh, and ask for donations: 

U2 frontman Bono on his new Broadway musical:

We’re wrestling with the same stuff as Rilke, Blake, ‘Wings of Desire,’ Roy Lichtenstein, the Ramones — the cost of feeling feelings, the desire for connections when you’re separate from others.

Heavy, man. Especially for a production titled Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark.

Will the Obama administration cave to international pressure and transfer a Guantanamo detainee it has previously found too dangerous to release?

Amnesty International has launched a major public relations campaign on behalf of Shaker Aamer, a citizen of Saudi Arabia who established residency in the U.K. Aamer was captured in Afghanistan in December 2001 and in early 2002 he was transferred to Guantanamo, where he has been detained ever since.

Both U.S. military and civilian leaders seem a bit nonplussed about the North Korean attack on a South Korean fishing village. With the American Armed Forces tied up in Iraq and Afghanistan, the White House is reluctant to up the ante in the highly militarized Korean peninsula.  So the American response has been rather tepid. The administration accelerates the schedule on pre-planned U.S.-South Korean naval exercises, essentially the same response to the sinking of the Republic of Korea's Cheonan that killed 46 sailors earlier this year.

In a joint statement, three conservative think tanks criticize defense cuts included in a number of budget proposals floating around Washington: 

Today's featured op-ed in the Washington Post, "North Korea's consistent message to the U.S.," is by former President Jimmy Carter. In case you have forgotten, Carter has been to the DPRK in both official and unofficial capacities. He has a relationship with the regime and speculates that all the North Koreans want is a little respect:

Sam Stein reports that the Senate Armed Services Committee has scheduled two days of hearings next week on the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on gays in the military: 

Excerpts of remarks by Marine Lt. Gen. John F. Kelly to the Semper Fi Society of St. Louis, November 13, 2010. His son, Marine 1st Lt. Robert Michael Kelly, 29, was killed in action November 9, 2010, in Sangin, in southern Afghanistan, while leading his platoon on a combat patrol.

Bloomberg reports: