Debate Swings Door Open for Perry, Closed for Palin  —  Most people have better things to do than to watch a presidential debate eight months in advance of the Iowa caucuses.  So when considering a debate like the one that took place among Republican candidates in New Hampshire tonight, it's important to be mindful of the following:

Citing his own past, Frank passes on Weiner judgment  —  Citing his own brush with sexual scandal, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said Tuesday that he's in no position to judge the lurid actions of colleague Anthony Weiner.  —  “Given these circumstances, where I was myself engaged in activity …

Obama: My family would be fine with just 1 term  —  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says his wife and daughters aren't “invested” in him being president and would have been fine had he decided against running for re-election.  But he says they believe in what he's doing for the country.

Wingnut debt ceiling demands  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — A lot of politicians are weighing in with demands before they'll support raising the debt ceiling.  Most of their conditions are related to debt, such as put in place a debt reduction plan or cut spending.

Pundit Under Protest  —  I'll be writing a lot about the presidential election over the next 16 months, but at the outset I would just like to remark that I'm opining on this whole campaign under protest.  I'm registering a protest because for someone of my Hamiltonian/National Greatness perspective …

‘Paula Brooks,’ editor of ‘Lez Get Real,’ also a man  —  Just one day after the author behind a popular Syrian lesbian blog admitted to being a married, American man named Tom MacMaster, the editor of the lesbian news site Lez Get Real, with the tag­line “A Gay Girl's View on the World,” acknowledged that he is also a man.

Statue of Liberty redux  —  A smart colleague reminds us that Ronald Reagan kicked off his formal general election campaign in 1980 with a Liberty Park speech, as Jon Huntsman is doing for his primary effort.  —  But there's another, more recent , and far more local, candidate who announced …

Allen West Violates Federal Law During Weekend Diving Trip  —  ​There's nothing really bad to say about Rep. Allen West going diving off the coast of Deerfield Beach with a bunch of military veterans — except for the fact that he violated U.S. federal law in the process, and provided pictorial of himself doing so.

Newt Gingrich Charity Paid Cash To Gingrich For-Profit Business  —  A non-profit charity founded by Newt Gingrich to promote freedom, faith and free enterprise also served as another avenue to promote Gingrich's political views, and came dangerously close, some experts say …

Obama fundraiser underwhelms  —  The empty seats at President Obama's fundraiser in Miami, Fl. were hard to miss.  —  MIAMI, Fla. — A low-dollar fundraiser here Monday felt like a throwback to the 2008 campaign.  —  There was the same old soundtrack - including “City of Blinding Lights” …

Capitol Report: ‘Extraordinary’ session never before used to pass budget  —  If top Republican lawmakers move forward Tuesday with a plan to pass the state budget in “extraordinary session,” it will be the first time lawmakers have used this speedy political maneuver to pass a budget in at least 80 years.

Fact-checking the GOP debate in New Hampshire  —  That was some collection of facts and statistics during the GOP debate in New Hampshire on Monday night that aired on CNN.  —  We're going to take an instant stab at some of them, and then perhaps come back later this week with a more extended look at other assertions.

High Hopes at Miracle-Gro in Medical Marijuana Field  —  Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. has long sold weed killer.  Now, it's hoping to help people grow killer weed.  —  In an unlikely move for the head of a major company, Scotts Chief Executive Jim Hagedorn said he is exploring targeting medical marijuana …

Are Weiner's women blameless?  —  Editor's note: LZ Granderson writes a weekly column for CNN.com.  A senior writer and columnist for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, he has contributed to ESPN's “Sports Center,” “Outside the Lines” and “First Take.”  He is a 2010 nominee and the 2009 winner …

Hillary Clinton, the Comic Book  —  It reads more like a soap opera than a comic book, with its down-and-dirty details involving two of the most powerful political figures of our time: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.  —  A new 32-page comic book entitled “Political Power: Hillary Rodham Clinton” …

Bankruptcy Court: DOMA Unconstitutionally Limits Same-Sex Married Couples From Joint Bankruptcy Filing  —  Today, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, in Los Angeles, released an opinion finding Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional …

Obama stresses ‘need to accelerate the recovery’  —  President Obama was in North Carolina yesterday, touring a fast-growing manufacturer of clean energy lighting, and convening a meeting of his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.  Of particular interest, though, were the president's comments …

About Ron Klain  —  Ron Klain is a senior executive with a private investment firm in Washington.  From 2009 to 2011, he was chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden and a senior adviser to President Barack Obama on the Recovery Act, judicial selection, and other policy matters.

Activists cry foul over FBI probe  —  CHICAGO — FBI agents took box after box of address books, family calendars, artwork and personal letters in their 10-hour raid in September of the century-old house shared by Stephanie Weiner and her husband.  —  The agents seemed keenly interested …

OVERNIGHT ENERGY: High noon for ethanol  —  Tuesday's Big Story: The Senate is slated to vote on Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-Okla.) plan to eliminate a major ethanol industry tax break and the ethanol import tariff.  —  Ethanol backers are battling the amendment and seeking to pull support from Coburn.

Just What Is So Wrong with the War on Drugs?  —  All our lives we have been taught that when someone uses or sells drugs, justice dictates that he or she should go to prison.  We are taught that those who commit drug crimes are a threat to society, either because they want to turn others …

Conversations About My Father: Christiane Amanpour  —  Christiane Amanpour Father , Christiane Amanpour Father's Day , Christiane Amanppour , Christiane Amanppour This Week , Father's Day Interviews , Father's Day Stories , Entertainment News  —  A few weeks ago I set out to engage people in a conversation about their fathers.