"In a new memoir, former defense secretary Robert Gates unleashes harsh judgments about President Obama’s leadership and his commitment to the Afghanistan war, writing that by early 2010 he had concluded the president 'doesn’t believe in his own strategy, and doesn’t consider the war to be his. For him, it’s all about getting out.' 

"Leveling one of the more serious charges that a defense secretary could make against a commander in chief sending forces into combat, Gates asserts that Obama had more than doubts about the course he had charted in Afghanistan. The president was 'skeptical if not outright convinced it would fail,' Gates writes in 'Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War.' ... 

"It is rare for a former Cabinet member, let alone a defense secretary occupying a central position in the chain of command, to publish such an antagonistic portrait of a sitting president. ... 

"Gates writes, 'I did not enjoy being secretary of defense,' or as he e-mailed one friend while still serving, 'People have no idea how much I detest this job.'"

"Another midterm election beckons, and over the next 10 months we’ll see headlines about a thousand supposedly critical developments — the 'game changers' and the 'tipping points.'  But we all know there aren’t a thousand powerful drivers of the vote. I’d argue that three factors are paramount: the president, the economy and the election playing field. And, at least preliminarily, those three factors seem to be pointing toward Republican gains in both houses in the 2014 midterms.  ... 

"The ebb and flow of politics is one of the few constants throughout American history, and 2014 will be no exception. The GOP fared well in 2002 and 2004, then it was the Democrats’ turn in 2006 and 2008. Since then, the back-and-forth cycle has speeded up, with Republicans winning handsomely in 2010 and Democrats in 2012. In the quick 'surge and decline' politics of our highly polarized era, the early bet has to be on Republicans to do well in 2014 — despite themselves."

"Liz Cheney announced early Monday morning that she is withdrawing from the Wyoming Republican Senate primary, bringing an abrupt end to her unsteady challenge to the incumbent, Michael B. Enzi. 

"'Serious health issues have recently arisen in our family, and under the circumstances, I have decided to discontinue my campaign,' Ms. Cheney said in a statement. 'My children and their futures were the motivation for our campaign and their health and well-being will always be my overriding priority.'"

"Eleven GOP attorneys general say the Obama administration is breaking the law by repeatedly making changes to ObamaCare without going through Congress. 

"The attorneys general specifically criticize President Obama's executive action that allowed insurance companies to keep offering health plans that had been canceled for not meeting ObamaCare's more rigorous standards. 

"'We support allowing citizens to keep their health insurance coverage, but the only way to fix this problem-ridden law is to enact changes lawfully: through Congressional action,' the attorneys general wrote in a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. 'The illegal actions by this administration must stop.'

"They say the healthcare fix was 'flatly illegal under federal constitutional and statutory law.'"

"Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio has signaled he may embrace a series of limited changes to the nation’s immigration laws in the coming months, giving advocates for change new hope that 2014 might be the year that a bitterly divided Congress reaches a political compromise to overhaul the sprawling system.  

"Mr. Boehner has in recent weeks hired Rebecca Tallent, a longtime immigration adviser to Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican who has long backed broad immigration changes. Advocates for an overhaul say the hiring, as well as angry comments by Mr. Boehner critical of Tea Party opposition to the recent budget deal in Congress, indicates that he is serious about revamping the immigration system despite deep reservations from conservative Republicans."

Very Best Wishes for a Most Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Filled with Holiday Cheer!

"It’s hard to come up with new ways to describe the Obama administration’s improvisational approach to the Affordable Care Act’s troubled health insurance exchanges. But last night, the White House made its most consequential announcement yet. The administration will grant a 'hardship exemption' from the law’s individual mandate, requiring the purchase of health insurance, to anyone who has had their prior coverage canceled and who 'believes' that Obamacare’s offerings 'are unaffordable.' These exemptions will substantially alter the architecture of the law’s insurance marketplaces. Insurers are at their wits’ end, trying to make sense of what to do next. ... 

"[T]his most recent announcement from the Obama administration is the first time it has publicly admitted that Obamacare is making health insurance less affordable, not more so, for millions of Americans."

"The apparent skepticism of most voters that government could competently administer the health care sector seems to have been justified—and then some. 

"Gallup reports that 72 percent of Americans see big government, not big business or big labor, as the biggest threat to the nation’s future—the highest number since the question was first asked in 1965. 

"The Obama Democrats assumed Americans would embrace big government policies. They seem to have proved the opposite."

"Congratulations to President Obama. He keeps racking up victories, and now has been named winner of the Lie of the Year award. ... 

"The White House lies go on and on — they haven’t stopped yet, because Jay Carney’s lips still are moving — but even a comprehensive list wouldn’t do justice to Obama’s singular achievement. Remember, he’s said these things repeatedly for years, so you’d need multiplication tables to get a real total.

"Even that wouldn’t tell the whole story. The sin isn’t just the sum of his various false claims. ObamaCare itself is the Big Lie. The whole thing is false. ... 

"It’s the Lie of Forever."

"President Obama is ending his fifth year in office matching the worst public approval ratings of his presidency, with record numbers of Americans saying they disapprove of his job performance and his once-hefty advantages over Republicans in Congress eroded in many areas, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. 

"His position is all the more striking when compared with his standing a year ago, as he was preparing for his second inauguration after a solid reelection victory. That high note proved fleeting as the president faced a series of setbacks, culminating in the botched rollout of his Affordable Care Act two months ago. ... 

"Obama’s standing is of particular concern to congressional Democrats as they look to next year’s midterm elections. Parties that control the White House suffer — sometimes significantly — in midterm campaigns when the president’s approval rating is below 50 percent."