As the shutdown seems to near an end, new revelations describe the danger America faced in its early days. “People that are involved in our intelligence are critical. You can’t possibly put 70 percent on furlough and not harm national security," former CIA Director Leon Panetta told McClatchy.

In political peril, the tea party may lose influence if its demands are sidelined as the debt ceiling and budget are resolved.

The National Security Agency is collecting hundreds of millions of email addresses, according to documents provided to The Washington Post by former contractor Edward Snowden. The collection includes 444,743 e-mail address books from Yahoo, 105,068 from Hotmail, 82,857 from Facebook, 33,697 from Gmail and 22,881 others.

Former Army Capt. William Swenson will receive the Medal of Honor today, four years after being nominated for heroism in a controversial Afghanistan battle. Newly-released video of that battle contradicts the account of previous Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer.

Amid daily signs of increased political polarization, is there a New American Center? Esquire & NBC News believe they have located one. Take this quiz to see if you are in it.

And Macy's will break with 155 years of tradition this Thanksgiving and open its stores to holiday shoppers.