Obama speech reveals a different leader  —  President Obama has never lacked for confidence, but rarely has that attribute been on display as clearly as on Monday in an inaugural address that underscored the distance he has traveled after four contentious years in office.

Virginia Senate Sneaks Through Gerrymandering Bill While Country Watches Inauguration  —  While the eyes of the nation were turned toward President Barack Obama's second inauguration on Monday, the Virginia State Senate managed to hurriedly pass a bill that would redistrict the state's senate seats.

NBC/WSJ poll: Majority, for first time, want abortion to be legal  —  As the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision takes place on Tuesday, a majority of Americans - for the first time - believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

TRENDING: CNN Poll: Do Americans agree with Obama on climate change and immigration?  —  Washington (CNN) - Saying “we will respond to the threat of climate change,” President Barack Obama used his second inaugural address to put the divisive issue back on the front burner.

The Collective Turn  —  The best Inaugural Addresses make an argument for something.  President Obama's second one, which surely has to rank among the best of the past half-century, makes an argument for a pragmatic and patriotic progressivism.  —  His critics have sometimes accused …

Obama dodges ‘hard choices’ on entitlements  —  President Barack Obama insisted four years ago that the nation must make “hard decisions” to preserve entitlement programs.  —  But on Monday, the “hard choices” he spoke of on health care and the deficit came with a major caveat: He's not willing to give up much.

Gas plant worker and 2 Canadians helped terrorists in siege, Algerian PM says  —  Jan. 21, 2013: Algerian firemen carry a coffin containing a person killed during the gas facility hostage situation at the morgue in Ain Amenas, Algeria.AP  —  An Al Qaeda-linked militant group who took control …

Study: “Debt Problem Began Four Decades Ago” … A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis reminds Americans that, contrary to the narrative that huge deficits and debt are merely a recent product of the Great Recession, the problem began over forty years ago.

Sarkozy's plans 'to dodge new 75% French tax rate by moving to London with wife Carla and setting up £1bn private equity fund'  —  Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing to move to London to set up a billion pounds plus investment fund, it was claimed today.  —  If the move goes ahead …

ISUE4U: State sued over banned vanity plates  —  Issuing vanity license plates now may officially be more trouble than it's worth.  —  Hours after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a story last week about the state's arbitrary approval process of vanity license plates for motor vehicles …

Reid to lay out plans for filibuster reform  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will present colleagues with options for reforming the Senate's filibuster rules in a Democratic caucus meeting Tuesday.  —  Reid and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) …

Taliban responds to Prince Harry: 'It's not a game—it's very, very real'  —  Taliban leaders have fired back at Prince Harry over the royal's comments that piloting a helicopter in Afghanistan—where he says he killed insurgents during his recent tour of duty—is like playing a video game.

Jill Kelley Says Paula Broadwell Tried to ‘Blackmail’ Her  —  The woman dragged into the Petraeus scandal tells Howard Kurtz that her life is now a nightmare.  She says she didn't press charges against Paula Broadwell and never exchanged 30,000 emails with a top general.

Diplomacy Is Dead  —  DIPLOMACY is dead.  —  Effective diplomacy — the kind that produced Nixon's breakthrough with China, an end to the Cold War on American terms, or the Dayton peace accord in Bosnia — requires patience, persistence, empathy, discretion, boldness and a willingness to talk to the enemy.