A combative Rep. Charles Rangel told the House on Tuesday he's not resigning despite 13 charges of wrongdoing and demanded the ethics committee not leave him "swinging in the wind." Rangel, who is 80, spoke without notes in an extraordinary, often emotional 37-minute speech that defied his lawyers' advice to keep quiet about his case.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says tough economic times require that he shutter a major command that employs some 5,000 people in Norfolk, Va., and eliminate other jobs throughout the military.

The 14th Amendment is a mighty sword, and U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker used it Wednesday to flay and shred all the specious arguments -- and I mean all of them -- that are used to deny full marriage rights to gay and lesbian Americans.

In an election year already notable for anti-establishment fervor and spoiler candidates, nothing beats Colorado's political circus.