Ensign Melquisedet Angulo Córdova, a Special Forces sailor killed last week during Mexico’s most successful drug raid in years, received a hero’s funeral Monday—and then, on Tuesday, gunmen broke into his family's home and opened fire, killing his mother and three other family members. It was a chilling warning from the cartels to military forces in Mexico’s war on drugs that even their families will be targets. Thousands, including prosecutors and police chiefs, have been killed in the drug-related violence. But targeting a soldier’s family after he’d been killed is an extremely rare form of intimidation. The Mexican government had warned that violence could erupt in the wake of the death of drug lord Arturo Beltrán Leyva and six of his gunmen, who fell during the raid that claimed Angulo’s life.

Alabama Representative and ex-Democrat Parker Griffith’s switch to the GOP won’t affect the power balance in the House, but it highlights the growing unease among Democrats looking to the 2010 midterm elections, particularly with the Democratic Caucus' deeply left-leaning current leadership. Although Griffith blindsided the Democrats—he had even attended Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s holiday party—they remained silent on his departure, merely asking for campaign donations to be returned. But privately, Democrats said it was a blow, coming at a difficult time as they try to pass an ambitious health-care agenda, and only a few years after the party made significant inroads in relatively conservative districts in red states. On top of that, several Democrats have announced their retirement, including some veteran Southerners, amid unfavorable polling data. “There’s a real backlash in the conservative districts against Washington and the president,” a senior Democratic operative told Politico. “In any right-leaning district… you’re going to see the incumbent looking at numbers they’ve never seen before.”

Take cover, Howard Dean: President Obama hits back at his critics in The Washington Post, saying that "Nowhere has there been a bigger gap between the perceptions of compromise and the realities of compromise than in the health-care bill.” He contends that the legislation matches the proposal he campaigned on: “Every single criteria for reform I put forward is in this bill,” adding “I didn’t campaign on the public option.” He said he is “very enthusiastic” about the achievement, though adds “Do these pieces of legislation have exactly everything I want? Of course not. But they have the things that are necessary to reduce costs for businesses, families, and the government."

Sen. John McCain’s presumptive challenger in the Republican primary for his Arizona Senate seat hasn’t officially filed yet, but already the race is getting ugly. J.D. Hayworth, former congressman and talk-show host, had a complaint filed against him with the Federal Elections Commission by former McCain Chief of Staff and Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods, who says that Hayworth has been illegally promoting his candidacy on his radio show. Woods wrote, "You can't use the public airwaves ... to explore your candidacy for public office ad nauseam, and I stress the nausea." Hayworth responded on Twitter that he was exercising his First Amendment rights, and then called Woods an “ambulance chaser” on his show. Then, a McCain-linked push poll revealed the sitting senator was 20 points ahead—and the lead jumped to 33 points when respondents were told that Hayworth never returned campaign donations he received from convicted felon Jack Abramoff. This month, Hayworth raised $110,000 at a fundraiser and has said he’ll wait till early 2010 to make a decision about running.

Alabama Rep. Parker Griffith is leaping off Obama’s coattails. The freshman Democrat from Alabama was to announce on Tuesday that he is switching parties to join the GOP. A radiation oncologist, Griffith says the health-care bill is the main reason he’s switching parties. Griffith will be the first Republican to ever hold the historically Democratic district. Rightwing blogger Erick Erickson, meanwhile, is already calling for Republicans to challenge Griffith in a primary and cites an old GOP attack ad accusing him of under-treating cancer patients in order to make more money.

Was the failure to capture Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora just "an unfortunate footnote to an otherwise upbeat story"? No, argues the New Republic's Peter Bergen in what he calls "the definitive account" of the al Qaeda leader's escape: It was "one of the greatest military blunders in recent U.S. history." Constructing his history from the accounts of CIA and military operatives as well as al Qaeda members present with bin Laden in 2001, Bergen casts the U.S. forces' inability to catch or kill the terrorist as the result of an overextended military and an overly cautious strategy that put much of the fighting in the hands not of U.S. troops but of Afghan proxies. "When [the Bush administration] had an opportunity... to decapitate [al Qaeda]," says John Kerry, "they never showed up."

High unemployment is taking its toll on state compensation funds, with federal projections forecasting that 40 state unemployment programs will be penniless in two years and in need of $90 billion in loans. Lawmakers in states like South Carolina, Nevada, Kansas, Vermont, and Indiana are debating how to best meet the shortfall—generally either through raising taxes or lowering the aid payments—and 25 states have already borrowed some $24 billion from the government to cover their shortages. The problem, it seems, stems from a failure on the part of many states to prepare for the recession. According to the Urban Institute, unemployment programs were on average being funded only one-third what they should have been.

Christina Aguilera was riding shotgun as her assistant, driving Aguilera’s Range Rover, rear-ended another vehicle. No one complained of injuries. Aguilera left the scene with her bodyguard while the assistant stayed behind.

The FBI released a troubling Michael Jackson dossier on Tuesday. The files show Jackson allegedly had once been accused of molesting two boys from Mexico and that the case was covered up. An unnamed source told the FBI that the agency had investigated such charges in 1985 or 1986 and was informed the case wasn’t pursued because Jackson was to get a medal from President Reagan. But an FBI agent said he’d found no evidence of such an investigation. The papers also contain allegations from a couple who rode a train with Jackson and were disturbed by Jackson’s possessiveness toward a 13-year-old “cousin”—the couple was also concerned by the “questionable noises” they heard through the wall. The FBI was asked to analyze a VHS tape that U.S. Customs had seized as part of a child-porn probe into the singer. The tape was labeled in part: “Michael Jackson’s Neverland Favorites An All Boy Anthology." The contents weren’t described; the only note was that it was “a copy of a copy of a copy.”

A 13-year-old mutt in suburban New York is the first dog in the country to be infected by the same strain of swine flu that infects humans. An American Veterinary Medical Association spokesman said there’s no evidence that H1N1 can be transmitted from pet to human. "In theory it could happen, but so far it's really looking like a dead end in pets," he said. And a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesperson said that though animals can carry flu viruses, such cases are rare and people should not be scared of their pets. The dog was having breathing problems and was taken to the vet, who tested for swine flu since he knew the owner had the bug. The dog had a checkup Tuesday and is “getting back to his old self.”

Rapper Kid Cudi almost ended up staying in Los Angeles longer than planned, when police pulled him over and cuffed him as a suspected burglar. Cudi and his entourage were on their way home from a photo shoot when they were stopped by the LAPD, having been mistakenly identified as looters by a resident of the area. The men were ordered out of the car and onto their knees and Cudi was handcuffed, though they were quickly released after officers realized the mistake. According to the blog of a writer who was with Cudi at the time, there were “10 or so armed police offers with an alarming amount of weaponry pointed in our direction as a helicopter circles overhead.” In an interview after the fact, Cudi showed no hard feelings, saying “Who knows, really, the story changed a bunch. I’m just happy to be back. I’m a free man! For that moment I was not free. I was in handcuffs. It did not feel very comfortable.”

The economy may still be struggling but it’s a great time to be a lobbyist, thanks in large part to the political efforts of the Obama administration. Amid huge debates over legislation for climate change, health care, and financial reform, lobbyists this year are in their element, and experts predict that spending this year will surpass last year’s $3.3 billion in spite of the economic downturn. “Lobbyists love it … when you’ve got an activist agenda like this, and you’ve got some serious problems like this, and people want to do something about it,” said one academic. An anonymous lobbyist echoed the sentiment: “We’ve never had as good a year. It’s been a tremendously busy year, and it’s going to keep getting that way.” Health-care reform has been particularly fruitful for lobbyists, allowing for a wide range of participants and opportunities. “It touches all the various parts of the entire health care environment,” said the Senior Vice President at APCO Worldwide. “Everybody has some dog in the fight.”

Stranded holiday fliers may not believe it, but the Federal Aviation Administration knows how to throw a party. ABC News went undercover at a three-week-long, $5 million conference that critics view as little more than an excuse for managers to throw a Christmas party on the company tab. “Any time you get a bunch of FAA guys together, it is nothing but a party,” said one manager, and another said, “It beats being at work.” One conference attendee asked an undercover reporter if she was a prostitute, adding that if she had been, “I was ready to reach for my wallet.” Tipsy FAA employees were also caught on tape bar-hopping in Atlanta, though the conference was billed as a training session for managers on a new contract for air-traffic controllers. FAA officials claim the conference was necessary for understanding of new regulations, and released a statement saying, “We expect a level of professionalism from our employees at all times, including after work hours. Reports of unruly public behavior are disappointing for the entire FAA.”

Notes from the L.A. County Coroner's office about Brittany Murphy, obtained by TMZ, reveal the futile attempts her mother and husband made to save the star. After discovering the actress in the bathroom, her mother Sharon and husband Simon Monjack attempted to revive her by "placing her in the shower and running the water." She "remained unresponsive" and apparently threw up before paramedics arrived to find her "without signs of life." According to the document, Murphy had been "complaining of shortness of breath and severe abdominal pain" for more than a week before her death, and the house was littered with prescription drugs, including medications for anxiety, depression, hypertension and pain.

Is RNC Chairman Michael Steele putting personal profit ahead of his party? Republicans who have previously held his post are speaking out against Steele’s continued side career as a for-pay speaker, earning between $8,000 and $20,000 (plus first-class travel and lodging) for appearances. Steele already earns $223,500 per year for his elected post, and Frank J. Fahrenkopf—RNC chairman under President Reagan—protests, "The job of a national chairman is to give speeches. That's what the national party pays him for." Jim Nicholson, who held the post from 1997-2000, said the job "demands so much of your time that you can work 24/7 and not get everything done, so taking time out to speak for the benefit of one's own bank account is not appropriate." Steele's office deflected the criticism, saying that Steele is following appropriate rules and "has been giving inspirational speeches based on his personal story long before he was elected RNC chairman."

Michael Sapir, who in 2001 claimed that he had video of Tom Cruise "engaged in a homosexual relationship" and was promptly sued by the movie star, has now himself sued Cruise, accusing the actor of hiring currently incarcerated private investigator Anthony Pellicano to wiretap and spy on him. Sapir, who settled with Cruise in their last lawsuit entanglement and issued a statement disavowing the alleged "homosexual relationship" tape's existence, claims that Cruise, Pellicano, and attorney Bert Fields all conspired to spy on him, and is asking for $5 million. Fields called the allegations "complete garbage."

CBS and Disney are both interested in Apple's reported plan to package and sell television subscriptions over the Internet, offering some TV shows from U.S. networks via its iTunes store for a monthly fee. Though nothing is set in stone, Apple's plan could fundamentally change the television business, as networks would be looking at a different kind of revenue stream and cable and satellite providers' power would be threatened. Some versions of the proposal had the computer company offering media conglomerates anywhere between $1 and $4 a subscriber, depending on the size of the network—a much higher figure than those companies would see from traditional distributors. Still, many are skeptical: News Corp, Viacom and Time Warner all seem to be leaning away from the deal.

Senate Democrats seeking to pass their health-care reform bill by Christmas overcame another obstacle early Tuesday morning when a 60-39 party-line vote finalized amendments to the package. After a third and final procedural vote, expected to come Wednesday, the Senate can vote on final passage of the bill, likely late on Thursday. The GOP continued in their attempts to slow the legislation, with 39 of 40 members voting against Tuesday’s measure, while the Democratic caucus held firm with sixty votes; Republicans, who have run out of options in their quest to block the bill, continued to deride the reform.

After three days with no service thanks to condensation-caused electrical difficulties, Eurostar has resumed its train service in the Channel Tunnel with no reports of problems, accepting tickets only from people who intended to travel on Saturday and Sunday. The company said it was "terribly sorry" and was running a special timetable—essentially a back-and-forth shuttle service—to deal with an estimated backlog of 40,000 passengers. The problems stemmed from the Friday breakdown of five trains in the tunnel, apparently caused by an "unprecedented" cold snap in France that the trains' winterization failed to protect against.

The number of homes in foreclosure topped one million for the first quarter ever, as delinquencies rose even among prime borrowers and nearly half of all holders of modified mortgages, whose monthly payments had been lowered, defaulted again. The depressing figures, released on Monday by the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, restate the difficulty facing the real-estate market going forward, as continuously high unemployment makes regular mortgage payment difficult for millions of homeowners. Of all mortgages serviced by national banks and thrifts, 87.2 percent were current, while 6.2 percent were seriously delinquent.

As Senate Democrats pass another party-line hurdle on Tuesday morning, many liberals, led by Jane Hamsher at FireDogLake, are clamoring to kill the bill. Hamsher’s “ Top 10 Reasons to Kill the Senate Health Care Bill” has been circulating, and at The Washington Post, Ezra Klein responds point by point. Hamsher, Klein points out, both criticizes for doing too little to control costs and then also takes aim at some of its cost-controlling measures. At the Wonk Room, meanwhile, a handy chart lays out what things will look like with and without reform. Without reform: 54 million uninsured, an average cost of $13,100 for a currently uninsured family, and seniors charged 11 times as much as younger customers. With reform: 23 million uninsured, an average subsidized cost of $10,133 for a currently uninsured family, and seniors charged, at most, three times as much as younger customers.

Just as Christians gear up to celebrate the birth of Jesus, archaeologists have found a house that could have been home to his childhood neighbors in Nazareth, not far from the place where the angel Gabriel is said to have announced to Mary that she would bear a child. Archaeologist Yardena Alexandre said that the dwelling seemed to have been occupied by a "simple Jewish family," and "may well have been a place that Jesus and his contemporaries were familiar with." The house dates back to a time when Nazareth was a tiny, isolated village of Jews caught in fear of Roman invaders. Alexandre and her team were able to uncover about 900 square feet of the house, including a wall, a hideout a courtyard and a system for catching water from the roof and delivering it to the home.

And just like that, one of New York’s most tempestuous electoral careers came to an end. Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani is expected to make an announcement Tuesday saying he will not run for the U.S. Senate, the New York Daily News reports, and that he will endorse former Rep. Rick Lazio for governor, despite surveys indicating he was the clear favorite to win primaries for either office. "Next year should be an interesting cycle for Republicans, and he sees it as an opportunity to engage in targeted races across the country," says a source close to Giuliani. The former mayor plans to stay in the private sector and start helping other members of the GOP, but his move paved way for freshman Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand—appointed earlier this year by Gov. David Patterson—to take the lead in the Senate race because she will face no big-name Republicans.

When the House and Senate conference to combine their health-care bills, there’s not expected to be debate on most issues—except for abortion. Activists on both sides of the issue oppose the Senate’s abortion compromise, and both abortion-rights activists and conservative Democrats in the House have indicated to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that they reject the Senate’s language. However, without the current language, it’s unclear whether the Senate can hang on to the necessary 60 votes. Under the Senate plan, insurers could offer abortion coverage but people who enroll in such plans would have to write two separate checks, one for abortion-services coverage and one for everything else.

Who needs bonuses when you can get a raise? Pay czar Kenneth Feinberg has approved a raise for an AIG executive that will give him or her over $4 million on top of a base salary of $450,000. The pay package includes stock options currently worth $3.26 million and additional incentive award of up to $1 million. Feinberg said he approved the package so it would be comparable to those that other executives at AIG receive. The executive had been planning to leave the company.

Stalin’s police state may be long gone, but his grandson is carrying on his torch: Yevgeny Dzhugashvili, is suing the radio station Ekho Moskvy for 10 million roubles, or more than $300,000, and demanding an apology after one if its hosts criticized Stalin in October. The radio host said, "Stalin signed an order that children can be shot from the age of 12 as enemies of the nation. Which of the bastards dares say a single word in his defense?" Earlier this year, a Russian court threw out a similar suit brought by Dzhugashvili against a newspaper that had criticized Stalin.

Brittany Murphy's autopsy is complete, but the cause of death remains "deferred." The L.A. County Coroner said there were no signs of foul play, but will wait until the toxicology, histopathy, and neutropathology reports are complete to identify what actually killed the starlet, or if she truly died of natural causes (despite many sources close to Murphy thinking otherwise). A source did reveal to TMZ however, that her body appeared "normal" and that she was not overly thin. Husband Simon Monjack says his "world was destroyed" following the news of his wife's death, but he appreciates the kind words from fellow celebrities, like Murphy's Just Married co-star and ex-boyfriend Ashton Kutcher. TMZ previously reported that authorities found "a lot" of prescriptions in the house, and that Murphy had been taking prescription meds for the flu-like symptoms she complained of for several days before her death. Murphy's mother reportedly told paramedics that her daughter had Type-2 diabetes, a condition that could have triggered a heart attack in conjunction with prescription meds.

Howard Schmidt, a former security official at eBay and Microsoft, will be named the White House cybersecurity coordinator on Tuesday. The announcement follows a six-month search that kicked off when President Obama created the post in May. Schmidt, currently the president of nonprofit computer-security organization the Information Security Forum, has previously worked at the White House, the FBI, and the Air Force. His responsibilities will include setting computer-security policy and recommending cybersecurity budgets. He will also have "regular access to the president."