Poll: Romney slipping in South Carolina, holds just 2 point lead over Gingrich  —  Despite a historic sweep of the first two nominating contests in the GOP field, Mitt Romney holds just a two percentage point lead in South Carolina, his smallest lead of 2012.

Should The Times Be a Truth Vigilante?  —  I'm looking for reader input on whether and when New York Times news reporters should challenge “facts” that are asserted by newsmakers they write about.  —  One example mentioned recently by a reader: As cited in an Adam Liptak article on the Supreme Court …

Panetta orders probe of video allegedly showing Marines urinating on dead Taliban  —  The top commanders of the Marine Corps U.S. forces in Afghanistan are investigating a video that purports to show U.S. Marines urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ordered …

Laura Bush wanted Jeb to run for president in 2012  —  SARASOTA  —  Former first lady Laura Bush wishes there were one more candidate in the Republican presidential primary: Jeb Bush.  —  Speaking to a sold-out Sarasota audience on Wednesday, Bush said she had hoped that her brother-in-law …

3 billionaires who'll drag out the race  —  Meet the three billionaires who could drag out the GOP presidential primary, bloody up front-runner Mitt Romney and weaken the odds of defeating President Barack Obama: Sheldon Adelson, Foster Friess and Jon Huntsman, Sr.

Justice Department approved recess appointments  —  President Barack Obama's decision last week to snub Congress and make a series of recess appointments while the Senate claimed it was technically in session had the legal blessing of the Justice Department, according to a formal legal opinion released Thursday.

President Obama's got sons?  —  President Obama, speaking last night in Chicago at a fundraiser at a private home, unloaded this bombshell:  —  Obama, according to the White House transcript, talked about “The first bill I signed — a bill that said that we're going to have equal pay …

GOP Rep. Jerry Lewis to retire from House  —  Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), the former chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, will retire at the end of this term, he announced on Thursday.  —  Lewis, a 17-term lawmaker from southern California, was pushed into a Democratic-leaning district …

Canada's Conservative Government Turns My Husband Back Into My Boyfriend  —  After issuing thousands of marriage licenses to same-sex couples from United States and other nations where same-sex marriage is not yet legal—marriage licenses that did not come with a disclaimer or an asterisk …

Conservatives Remain the Largest Ideological Group in U.S.  —  Overall, the nation has grown more polarized over the past decade  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Political ideology in the U.S. held steady in 2011, with 40% of Americans continuing to describe their views as conservative, 35% as moderate, and 21% as liberal.

Obama's 2011 fundraising haul: Bush's league  —  The Obama campaign and Democratic National Committee raked in a combined $68 million in the fourth quarter, bringing their total 2011 haul to $250 million — an impressive take but not quite up to the blistering pace set by the Bush-Cheney reelection machine over the same period.