http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o3_9sJ5NVE

A documentary project by Ken Burns and PBS, The Address, challenges Americans to rehearse and memorize one of the most iconic speeches in history, Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. The documentary itself follows a middle school in Putney, Vermont, the Greenwood School, throughout the academic year as the students rehearse, memorize, and ultimately recite Lincoln's famous speech.

In an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Sarah Palin said using 'slavery' as a way to describe the national debt is only offensive to African-Americans if they misinterpret the word.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BegFoXDdDMk

"There is another definition of slavery and that is being beholden to some kind of master that is not your choosing," Palin said.

The GOP is trying to redesign its nomination process aiming to rein in the recent rash of extreme nominees who keep losing winnable races. These fringe nominees have secondary effects as well.

According to a recent AP report, the Government Accountability Office took a deeper look into a Transportation Security Administration program to visually screen -- profile -- passengers for suspicious behavior.

One would think that because neither Democrats nor Republicans have unilateral control, now would be the prime time for bipartisan compromise. That today's political climate is ripe for Congress to make headway on some historical legislation, like immigration reform, and for Congress to regain the trust of the American people.

California submitted a new initiative (Californian Cannabis Hemp Initiative of 2014, 13-0013) for ballot consideration that would decriminalize cannabis in all its manifestations.

Jim Jenkins, an independent candidate, is running to fill an open U.S. Senate seat in Nebraska. The seat is being vacated by Senator Mike Johanns (R) who has decided not to run for re-election when his term is finished.

It all comes on the heals of the 2012 election where voters in three states (Maine, Maryland, and Washington) approved same-sex marriage and rejected a ban on it in the state of Minnesota.

So, what has transpired during the year?