Politics

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Harry Patch, who served in the Pacific with the U.S. Navy during World War II, is interviewed at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. on Friday, Dec. 7, 2012 before a National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony. Vipul Tripathi with Reingold communications accompanied Mr. Patch, who was one of several veterans who came for the ceremony. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

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Illustration Defense Spending by Alexander Hunter for The Washington Times

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FILE - This Jan. 20, 2009 file photo shows President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama waving as they walk down Pennsylvania Avenue on their way to the White House in Washington, after taking the presidential oath. In a reversal from four years ago, President Barack Obama will accept unlimited sums of money from corporations and individuals to pay for events surrounding his Inauguration, a spokeswoman said Friday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

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** FILE ** Senate Minority leader Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, speaks to supporters Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 5, 2012 at the Capitol in Lansing, Mich., on "Right To Work" legislation. (AP Photo/The Detroit News, Dale G. Young)

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This image from amateur video that AP obtained from Ugarit News has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting and shows a rebel firing a weapon around a corner at Syrian government forces in Damascus, Syria, on Dec. 7, 2012. Fighting around the Syrian capital intensified as rebels press a battle they hope will lead to the collapse of President Bashar Assad's regime after 20 months of conflict. (Associated Press/Ugarit News via AP Video)

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Egyptian protesters chant slogans against the Muslim Brotherhood and Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi outside the presidential palace in Cairo on Dec. 7, 2012, after they broke a barbed wire barricade keeping them from getting closer to the palace. Egypt's political crisis spiraled deeper into bitterness and recrimination as thousands of Islamist backers of the president vowed vengeance at a funeral for men killed in bloody clashes earlier in the week and large crowds of the president's opponents marched on his palace to increase pressure after he rejected their demands. (Associated Press

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House Speaker John Boehner, Ohio Republican, pauses during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 7, 2012, to discuss the pending fiscal cliff. Boehner said there's been no progress in negotiations on how to avoid the fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts and called on President Obama to come up with a new offer. (Associated Press)

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Exiled Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal arrivaes at Rafah crossing in the southern Gaza Strip on Dec. 7, 2012. The exiled chief broke into tears as he arrived in the Gaza Strip for his first-ever visit, a landmark trip reflecting his militant group's growing international acceptance and its defiance of Israel. (Associated Press)

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Bret Stephens, deputy editor of the Wall Street Journal; Reuel Marc Gerecht, senior fellow at Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD); Brian Katulis, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress; and Rob Satloff, executive director of Washington Institute for Near East Policy, sit on a panel titled "Islamists and Elections: Where Do They Lead?" at FDD's annual national security conference on Dec. 6, 2012. (Lloyd Wolf/FDD)

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President Obama and the first family light the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse south of the White House, Washington, D.C., Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)