Award-winning Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman Found Dead in Manhattan Apartment, Law-Enforcement Official Said  —  The New York Police Department is investigating, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine exact cause of death

Subpoenaed Christie staffer Christina Renna resigns  —  A Chris Christie aide who was subpoenaed in a growing New Jersey traffic scandal resigned Friday, the aide's lawyer confirmed to POLITICO.  —  Christina Renna becomes the second person to leave the Republican governor's office since the scandal escalated in January.

Delusions of Failure  —  The Republican response to the State of the Union was delivered by Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Republican representative from Washington — and it was remarkable for its lack of content.  A bit of uplifting personal biography, a check list of good things her party wants …

House Republicans pivot in search of a positive message  —  CAMBRIDGE, Md. - House Republicans are at a turning point.  —  A majority of them, having spent five years in opposition to President Obama — inviting Democrats to tag them as obstructive — are now intent on shaping a positive identity as the …

Bill Kristol joins ABC News  —  Bill Kristol, the editor and publisher of The Weekly Standard, has joined ABC News as a contributor, “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos announced on Sunday.  —  A source familiar with the negotiations says the former Fox News commentator has landed …

Benghazi a 2016 proxy battle  —  It is hard to count all the investigations into the Benghazi, Libya, attack — the exhaustive hearings and extensive testimony, the State Department review, the Senate report, the House report, the piles of newspaper and television stories.

Coca Cola ad on Super Bowl — American's brand?  Hm.  —  I'm watching the Super Bowl, looks like good defense (Seattle) is trouncing good offense (Denver) when a Coca Cola commercial came on and it started rather patriotically with the words of “America the Beautiful.”

Woody Allen  —  Nick Kristof runs an open leter from Dylan Farow, who was the center of a child molestation situation involving Woody Allen when she was seven years old.  The attention is swirling as a consequence of Mr. Allen's recent receipt of a lifetime achievment award from the Golden Globes.

Missouri Executed This Man While His Appeal Was Pending in Court  —  Herbert Smulls was pronounced dead four minutes before the justices in Washington denied his final stay.  Did Missouri officials breach their ethical duties by permitting this to happen?  —  It is 2014, not 1964 or 1914 …

Scholar and Columnist Professor Barry Rubin Passed Away at 64  —  Barry Rubin's was a rare voices of clarity in the Israeli academia and in Jewish media.  He was one of the good guys.  —  Baruch Dayan Ha'Emet: Professor Barry Rubin, one of the great intellectual defenders of Israel, passed away Monday morning.

Hillary Clinton, Richard Branson, and the 25-Year-Old Wunderkind Dems Fell For  —  When Rory McCarron started Invest Again, people joined him in droves.  Then everything fell apart.  —  There's no better way to travel to Davos than on somebody else's Gulfstream.