The candidates for chairman of the Republican National Committee are a literate bunch. And when asked to name their favorite book, their answers were revealing, to say the least.

Maria Cino's favorite is the classic To Kill a Mockingbird. Reince Priebus named The Reagan Diaries as his first choice. And current RNC Chairman Michael Steele's favorite is War and Peace.

Getting antsy waiting for The Daily Show and The Colbert Report to return from their holiday hiatus? The New York Times' Brian Stelter reports some exciting news in the meantime: the shows could soon return to Hulu.

After the outbreak of Islamophobia in 2010, CBS news anchor Katie Couric thinks she has a solution: "Maybe we need a Muslim version of The Cosby Show."

In a round-table discussion with Politico's Jonathan Martin, comedian Mo Rocca and theroot.com's Sheryl Huggins-Salomon, Couric said "the bigotry expressed against Muslims in this country has been one of the most disturbing stories to surface this year."

The so-called "Nostradamus" of the Middle East, Michel Hayek, has some grave predictions for President Barack Obama in the new year.

Speaking during a live broadcast on New Year's Eve for the 26th year in a row, he predicted Obama will face problems in 2011 "never faced by previous presidents," but reportedly did not offer any specifics. Millions tuned into the broadcast, according to The National, .

Frances Martel | Mediaite

We're now less than two years away from the next presidential election, which means it's time for 2012 presidential speculation to begin! The first This Week of the year kicked off the talk with some of the biggest names on the Republican side, and George Will seems to have found through the litany of names what he called "the President's secret weapon": Sarah Palin's inability to be elected.

1||After a busy lame duck session of Congress, President Barack Obama and his family headed to his home state of Hawaii to celebrate the holidays. During the trip, Obama hit the links, read a biography of Ronald Reagan and enjoyed some shaved ice. After extending the trip an extra day, the Obamas are scheduled to return to Washington on January 4.||newscom/Cory Lum/phlphotos&&

2||Barack and Michelle Obama paid a Christmas Day visit to a Marine base in Kaneohe to greet troops and their families.||newscom/Kent Nishimura/phlphotos&&

3||||newscom/Kent Nishimura/UPI&&

4||||newscom/Kent Nishimura/UPI&&

5||||newscom/Kent Nishimura/phlphotos&&

6||Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden also visited with troops and their families on Christmas Day at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.||Official White House Photo by David Lienemann&&

7||The Obamas sing during services on December 26 at St. Michael's Chapel at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kailua.||Official White House Photo by Pete Souza&&

8||The Obamas, along with friends and family, stopped for shaved ice on December 27 at Kailua Beach.||Kent Nishimura/UPI/Newscom&&

9||||newscom/Kent Nishimura/phlphotos&&

10||||newscom/Kent Nishimura/phlphotos&&

11||Obama on December 28 after sinking a putt on the 9th hole at Mid-Pacific Country Club in Honolulu.||newscom/Cory Lum/UPI&&

12||Obama with friend Mike Ramos before starting their round of golf.||newscom/Cory Lum/CNP&&

Outgoing Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) is catching a break just in time for the new year, after the Senate Ethics Panel dismissed a complaint against him.

Judicial Watch -- a conservative public interest group -- filed the complaint against Dodd, saying he "assisted a longtime friend and associate to obtain a reduced sentence and ultimately a full presidential pardon from President Clinton for tax and securities crimes, in exchange for gifts."

Mark Joyella | Mediaite

Ex-MSNBC host David Shuster emerged after months off the air, and came out firing at Fox News and Glenn Beck.


Shuster, who explained his sudden departure from MSNBC as amicable and caused by his interest in "looking around" for other work (Shuster was widely believed to have been auditioning for an anchor role at CNN) and "we had a disagreement about what happened."

A federal judge on Wednesday ruled against New York City's use of graphic anti-smoking ads, saying that only the federal government can regulate smoking warnings.

"Even merchants of morbidity are entitled to the full protection of the law, for our sake as well as theirs," said U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who issued the written decision.

Surprise, surprise, historians have found glaring errors in a textbook claiming that African Americans fought in large numbers for the South during the Civil War.

A number of additional errors have been found in other textbooks being used in some Virginia classrooms, since the state ordered a review of the books, the Washington Post reports.

Among the textbooks' errors are claims that the Confederacy included 12 states and the U.S. entered World War I in 1916. Five professional scholars reviewed the books, with three of them finding "disturbing" results. State officials are scheduled to meet January 10 to review the results.

"I absolutely could not believe the number of mistakes -- wrong dates and wrong facts everywhere. How in the world did these books get approved?" said Ronald Heinemann, a former history professor at Hampden-Sydney College who reviewed "Our Virginia: Past and Present." The other book mentioned in the report was "Our America: To 1865."