U.S. Politics

James Tracy, a tenured history professor at Florida Atlantic University who specializes in conspiracy theories, has made an outrageous series of claims that is sure to provoke grieving families by stating that the Sandy Hook massacre may not have happened at all.

In a lengthy post on his personal blog, Tracy wrote a post saying that the shooting that left 20 children and six teachers dead may not have happened the way that it is widely believed, if it happened at all.

Tracy, 47, has nothing to prove the claims, which he bases solely on the erroneous early reports that were filed during the chaos of the horrendous incident. He wrote:

"While it sounds like an outrageous claim, one is left to inquire whether the Sandy Hook shooting ever took place -- at least in the way law enforcement authorities and the nation's news media have described."

This is not Tracy's first foray into the world of unproven conspiracy theories. He has written a number of book chapters about media coverage of wars, union negotiations, and economic overhauls. On his personal blog he has also written about conspiracy theories involving the September 11th attacks, the PATRIOT Act, the death of Osama bin Laden, Fukishima, and the purview of the Department of Homeland Security.

In his latest claim, Tracy focuses much of his attention on the fact that early reports claimed that police were either searching for or had in custody two suspects. The story then progressed in the media that Ryan Lanza was the lone gunman, which was reportedly based on the identification that the shooter had on him at the time of attack.

The 112th Congress, which ended when the new 113th class was sworn in earlier this month, was historically unpopular. In fact, the public has such a low opinion of Congress right now that American voters have a higher opinion of notoriously hated things like root canals and cockroaches than they do of Congress.

Public Policy Polling released a new survey on Tuesday in which they took an interesting approach to showing just how little the public thinks of the United States' governing body.

Among a number of items and individuals tested, the automated poll found that American voters have a higher opinion of head lice, colonoscopies, France, the Canadian rock band Nickelback, Donald Trump, cockroaches, and root canals than they do Congress.

In an effort to write down its debt and stop the world's largest economy from defaulting as early as next month, the United States is reportedly "seriously" considering creating a $1 trilion platinum coin, according to financial analyst Cullen Roche.

Roche, founder of Orcam Financial Group and a blogger for Pragmatic Capitalism, says that the idea is being taken "somewhat seriously" in Washington. Speaking on the BBC's Today program, Roche said:

"I know it’s been spoken about at the White House and a number of prominent people, including congressman, are talking about it."

The U.S. Treasury would mint the coin and then deposit it into its own account at the Federal Reserve, which would then allow the government to write down or cancel $1 trillion of its $16.4 trillion pile of debt.

When the U.S. hit its $16 trillion debt limit on December 31, the Treasury began to shuffle funds in order to pay government bills. These clever accounting maneuvers, however, will only work until about the end of February as the latest fiscal cliff deal gives lawmakers two months to raise the debt limit before the country defaults.

The idea of minting a $1 trillion coin was raised last year. It has since been floated by several financial analysts in the U.S. in recent days as Congress and the government approach a key fiscal vote.

Roche says that the idea was an "accounting gimmick", and said that it was just "one really silly idea [being used] to fight another silly idea." He added:

Former Democratic Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, who lost a re-election bid to Republican John Kasich in 2010, announced on Tuesday morning that he will not seek a rematch in 2014.

In a statement sent out by the Ohio Democratic Party, Strickland said that the decision was "very difficult", adding:

"I look back fondly on my time as Ohio’s 68th governor -- and am proud of my administration’s efforts to guide our state through the greatest national economic crisis since the Great Depression. With the help of my first lady -- Frances Strickland -- my dedicated and loyal Cabinet, and my incredibly hard-working executive staff, we held the ship steady."

Strickland had been considering another run for the governor's job for months, and had hinted at last year's Democratic National Convention that he was interested.

According to a senior administration official, President Barack Obama will nominate John Brennan, his chief counterterrorism adviser, to be the next director of the CIA.

Brennan, 57, has served as assistant to the president for counterterrorism and homeland security since 2009. An official announcement of Brennan's nomination for the CIA job is expected to come Monday afternoon. Obama is also expected to nominate former Senator Chuck Hagel to be the next secretary of defense.

Should the Senate confirm Brennan's nomination, he'll replace retired General David Petreaus, who stepped down from his position in November after it was revealed that he had engaged in an extramarital affair with his biographer. Michael Morrell, a career intelligence officer who had been serving as the CIA's deputy director, has been acting director since Petreaus' departure.

According to a congressional Democratic aide, President Barack Obama will nominate former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel to be his defense secretary, and an official announcement could come as early as Monday.

Obama's selection will likely set up a confirmation battle in the Senate over whether the Vietnam War veteran strongly supports key U.S. ally Israel. The former Nebraska senator has also been criticized for comments that he made questioning the effectiveness of sanctions in Iran for its nuclear program.

The Obama administration backed down from what would have been a tough Senate confirmation battle over Susan Rice, the current U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations who was Obama's first pick to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. Rice withdrew her name from consideration after she drew heavy criticism from Republicans for remarks she made in the aftermath of an attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012.

A Senate Democratic aide revealed:

The administration has a lot of work to do on Hagel. He is in a weaker position now than Rice ever was because Rice would have rallied Democrats behind her. The administration floated Hagel's name, then neglected to defend him effectively when his critics started taking shots."

Recently retired Rep. Barney Frank admitted on Friday that he would like to serve as a temporary successor to Sen. John Kerry, the secretary of state nominee.

Speaking on MSNBC's "Morning Joe", Frank said that he had asked Massachusetts' governor Deval Patrick to appoint him to serve as the state's interim senator until a special election is held to fill Kerry's seat. Frank announced that he'd like to take Kerry's job temporarily only one day after his 32-year career in the House of Representatives ended.

If appointed, Frank would be the first ever openly gay male member of the U.S. Senate.

A spokeperson for Gov. Patrick said that he had no immediate comment. Under state law, Patrick will be required to fill the seat with an interim appointment if the Senate confirms Kerry as Secretary of State. The special election would then be scheduled between 145 and 160 days after Kerry's departure.

Frank had previously said that he did not want the appointment, but on Friday he noted that the fiscal cliff deal that was reached earlier this week to avoid tax cuts on most Americans also means that major spending decisions will be made in the next few months, and that is something that he'd like to be involved with. Frank said:

"A few weeks ago, in fact, I said I wasn't interested, which is kind of like you're about to graduate, and they said 'You have to go to summer school.' That deal now means that February, March and April are going to be among the most important months in American financial (history)."

Patrick has made it clear that he is planning to choose an interim senator who has no aspirations to run in the special election. The winner of the special election would serve out the remainder of Kerry's term, which ends after the 2014 election.

The National Academy of Public Administration is due to undertake a study that will examine the benefits of partially privatizing the financially strugging United States Postal Service (USPS), which lost $16 billion in the fiscal year 2012.

The study will examine a "hybrid model" which would allow private companies to deliver parcels up until the "last delivery mile". A USPS letter carrier would still be responsible for that last mile, and would physically deliver letters and packages to recipients.

In a paper previewing the study, a group of privitization proponents wrote:

"Just as private companies innovate and share supply chains in high-tech, automobile, and other industries today, the market will drive efficiencies in the postal network."

Dennis Kucinich, one of the Democratic Party's more liberal members in Congress and a leading voice for the left-wing, has officially left Congress after representing the Cleveland, Ohio, area for the past 16 years. While he did not retain his seat in the House of Representatives following redistricting, Kucinich says he is not ruling out another run for public office.

After watching the new members of Congress take office at noon on Thursday, Kucinich told reporters that he is determined to remain a voice for change, even if he doesn't have a House vote. In an interview with the Associated Press, Kucinich said that "it remains to be seen" if he will run for office again, but has no immediate plans. Kucinich said that he is excited to be planning his future.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been discharged from a New York hospital after having undergone treatment on a blood clot that was discovered between her skull and brain.

According to Clinton's medical team, she is making good progress. The State Department said that they are confident that she will make a full recovery, and added that she was "eager to get back to the office."

Clinton, 65, was spotted earlier today leaving New York-Presbyterian Hospital along with her husband, Bill, and daughter, Chelsea. At the time the State Dept. had said that she had not been discharged and was just traveling to another hospital building on the campus for further testing.

Clinton is due to step down from her post prior to the official start of President Barack's second term in office in January.