Allen West likens himself to Lincoln; Sen. Kerry and the Cabinet; and Paul Ryan jokes about 2016 (read-this roundup) Posted at 09:42 AM ET, 12/05/2012 (Alexander Gardner - GETTY IMAGES) Honest Allen - Wait, former Rep. Allen West compared himself to Abraham Lincoln? Um, okay. Lincoln united a country, while West...well, didn't. Our friends at the Fact Checker set West's comparison straight. Awaiting the Cabinet? - Sen. John Kerry could be nominated for some pretty sweet gigs - either Secretary of State or Secretary of Defense. Our colleague Paul Kane reports on how the Massachusetts Democrat is "navigat[ing] between his current job and his possible future." See ya in Des Moines - Just two possible future GOP presidential candidates, just jokin" around: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) suggested to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) at an awards dinner at which the two were collecting honors that they were joining a small but elite club and that they'd meet again. Cliff notes - More evidence that things always looks different on Wall Street than they do on Capitol Hill: here in Washington the "fiscal cliff" is being treated like the apocalypse, but in the Big Apple, it's getting a "meh."