Gingrich opens up big leads in South Carolina and Florida  —  Newt Gingrich's surge in the polls isn't limited to just the early presidential-nominating contest of Iowa.  —  According to new NBC News-Marist polls, the former House speaker has now opened up commanding leads in South Carolina and Florida …

Opposition grows to Occupy's port shutdown plan  —  Occupy Oakland's plan to shut down the city's bustling port on Monday for the second time in as many months is facing a complicating wrinkle nowhere in sight last time - opposition from several unions and some within the Occupy movement itself.

Perry, Huntsman pledge major changes for Congress  —  Two long shot Republican presidential candidates took aim at the nation's capital on Sunday, vowing to make major changes to Congress as they search for traction with GOP voters.  —  Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman …

Fact-Checking Newt Gingrich and the Fact-Checkers on the Middle East  —  ABC News “fact-checked” Newt Gingrich's Middle East statements and some readers asked me to fact-check ABC, so here is my view:  —  Gingrich said Palestinians are an “invented” people.  ABC says: Not true.

Police employ Predator drone spy planes on home front  —  Unmanned aircraft from an Air Force base in North Dakota help local police with surveillance, raising questions that trouble privacy advocates.  —  A Predator drone spy plane helped police make arrests after a North Dakota family's run-in with a local sheriff.

Candace Gingrich-Jones Questions Whether Brother Newt Gingrich Really Believes His Own Anti-Gay Rhetoric … Gay Marriage , Newt Gingrich , Same-Sex Marriage , Video , 2012 Presidential Race , Candace Gingrich-Jones , Candace Gingrich-Jones Gay Marriage , Michelangelo Signorile …

US proposes unmanned border crossing with Mexico  —  BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK, Texas (AP) — The bloody drug war in Mexico shows no sign of relenting.  Neither do calls for tighter border security amid rising fears of spillover violence.  —  This hardly seems a time the U.S. would be willing …

Rick Perry: 'I Don't Have Memorized' The Names Of All 9 Supreme Court Justices  —  During a meeting with the Des Moines Register editorial board on Friday, Rick Perry asserted there were eight justices on the Supreme Court and mispronounced Sonia Sotomayor's name.

Why Americans no longer trust Washington  —  Survey after survey in recent months has shown an alarming decline in public confidence in the nation's chief federal institutions, as well as a deepening pessimism about America's future.  Congressional approval is at an all-time low of 13 percent …

Rev. Al deep in the red  —  The Rev. Al Sharpton's nonprofit paid him nearly $242,000 — even as it carried $1.6 million in debt, according to documents obtained by The Post.  —  In all, the controversial activist and his empire, including the National Action Network and two for-profit companies …