Good-bye, Public Life  —  Alec Baldwin, photographed by Steve Schofield.  —  As told to Joe Hagan.  —  I flew to Hawaii recently to shoot a film, fresh on the heels of being labeled a homophobic bigot by Andrew Sullivan, Anderson Cooper, and others in the Gay Department of Justice.

Michigan's John Dingell to retire from Congress after 58 years  —  Rep. John Dingell is leaving the Congress he's served for longer than anyone else in United States history.  —  At a luncheon Monday in his beloved Downriver, the Dearborn representative says he will announce he won't seek re-election …

Pentagon Plans to Shrink Army to Pre-World War II Level  —  WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel plans to shrink the United States Army to its smallest force since before the World War II buildup and eliminate an entire class of Air Force attack jets in a new spending proposal …

Piers Morgan and CNN Plan End to His Prime-Time Show  —  There have been times when the CNN host Piers Morgan didn't seem to like America very much — and American audiences have been more than willing to return the favor.  Three years after taking over for Larry King, Mr. Morgan has seen the ratings for …

Harold Ramis, Chicago actor, writer and director, dead at 69  —  Best-known as an actor for ‘Ghostbusters’, ‘Stripes’, writer/director for ‘Caddyshack’, ‘Groundhog Day’  —  Chicago Tribune reporter Mark Caro reflects on the career of Harold Ramis, who passed away at the age of 69.

Health Care Horror Hooey  —  Remember the “death tax”?  The estate tax is quite literally a millionaire's tax — a tax that affects only a tiny minority of the population, and is mostly paid by a handful of very wealthy heirs.  Nonetheless, right-wingers have successfully convinced many voters …

Fewer Americans Think Obama Respected on World Stage  —  Slim majority still think world views U.S. favorably  —  PRINCETON, NJ — For the first time, more Americans think President Barack Obama is not respected by other world leaders than believe he is.  Americans' opinions have shifted dramatically …

UT/TT Poll: Abbott Holds 11-Point Lead Over Davis … UT/TT Poll, February 2014: Summary UT/TT Poll, February 2014: Methodology  —  After what are shaping up to be easy primary wins in March for the leading gubernatorial candidates, Republican Greg Abbott starts the general election race …

Pierce wants Brewer to veto denial of service bill  —  Arizona Sen. Steve Pierce of Prescott is joining several gubernatorial candidates in calling for Gov. Jan Brewer to veto a controversial piece of legislation that would allow business owners to refuse to serve gays by citing their religious beliefs.

The right's sociopathic new scam: Using Americans to harm their own health plans  —  GOP-aligned groups are now exploiting innocent people who need Obamacare — by having them campaign for its demise  —  Every time an enemy of the Affordable Care Act promotes a new Obamacare “horror story …

Samantha Power Dives Deep...Into Incoherence  —  Yesterday U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power delivered the Daniel Pearl Lecture at UCLA and met with Pearl's parents.  Afterward, she unburdened herself of this tweet: … I saw this on Twitter late last night and pondered it for a while.

Arkansas Guv: We're Two Votes Short Of Saving Obamacare  —  According to Gov. Mike Beebe's own whip count, the Arkansas House is two votes shy of continuing its privatized Medicaid expansion under Obamacare and saving health coverage for more than 80,000 people.

Spy Chief James Clapper: We Can't Stop Another Snowden  —  President Obama's Director of National Intelligence spent his life protecting secrets.  Then came the biggest leak of all.  —  Every morning at around 4:30 a.m., James Clapper wakes up and prepares for the worst job in Washington.

Does Hillary-Univision deal cross a line?  Column  —  One wonders whether a TV network should partner with a possible presidential candidate.  —  Imagine if a major television network entered into a partnership with a presidential nominee, and promoted that candidate across their media platforms.

Worse than Wal-Mart: Amazon's sick brutality and secret history of ruthlessly intimidating workers  —  You might find your Prime membership morally indefensible after reading these stories about worker mistreatment  —  When I first did research on Walmart's workplace practices in the early 2000s …

Stephen Blackwood: ObamaCare and My Mother's Cancer Medicine  —  The news was dumbfounding.  She used to have a policy that covered the drug that kept her alive.  Now she's on her own.  —  When my mother was diagnosed with carcinoid cancer in 2005, when she was 49, it came as a lightning shock.