What goes on behind closed doors in the Obama administration? If you can believe Atlantic Magazine, a "senior official" called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "chicken****" and another one agree with the assessment. Neither were identified. This was one embarrassing international incident not attributed to Vice President Joe Biden.


Secretary of State John Kerry is the butt of jokes by President Obama's staff, according to the New York Times. They say he often seems "out of sync with the White House in his public statements, like an astronaut "somersaulting through space."




Hogs might help Republicans wrest control of the U.S. Senate from Democrats. Joni Ernst, GOP candidate for an open seat in Iowa, gained widespread attention by saying in a campaign ad, "I grew up castrating hogs on an Iowa farm, so when I get to Washington, I'll know how to cut pork." Ernst, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, was endorsed by former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton.