Cruz, Carson Held Secret Meeting About Dirty Tricks in a Closet  —  Ted Cruz called a private meeting with the former neurosurgeon in South Carolina on Thursday night, the Carson campaign told The Daily Beast.  It did not go as planned.  —  Two grown men running for president met in a storage closet last night.

I Don't Believe The Latest SC Polls - Here's Why  —  Two polls, one from Clemson University and the other from Opinion Savvy, have been released since I wrote my blog post on SC.  Both have Trump in the high 20s, suggesting tomorrow night will be closer than I predicted.  Here's why I discount each poll.

Harper Lee dead at age of 89: ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ author passes away  —  Nelle Harper Lee, who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1961 for her book, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” has died at the age of 89, multiple sources in her hometown of Monroeville, including the mayor's office, confirmed Friday morning.

Trump One Day Into Iraq Invasion: “It Looks Like A Tremendous Success”  —  And the stock market would continue to soar as a result, Trump said.  —  w.soundcloud.com  —  Donald Trump, faced with his own words from 2002 that directly contradict his claim he opposed an Iraq invasion early on …

Hillary Clinton just can't win: Democrats need to accept that only Bernie Sanders can defeat the GOP  —  Bernie Sanders will become our next president and it should come as no surprise to people actually paying attention  —  In one major poll, Bernie Sanders is now leading Hillary Clinton nationally.

Harry Reid accuses Republicans of ‘trickery and gimmicks’ in Nevada caucuses  —  Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) accused members of the Republican Party of resorting to “trickery and gimmicks” to spoil his state's Democratic caucuses.  —  “These Republican plans to interfere …

Bernie Sanders's Brother: He Backs ‘Class Warfare,’ Bill Clinton Was Worse Than Bush  —  Larry Sanders says Bernie is a ‘genuine socialist’ trying to save the Democratic Party from ‘dreadful’ Bill Clinton, who is either a ‘terrible rapist or a nice rapist’ to the media.

In Defense of Trump, Some Point (Wrongly) to Vatican Walls  —  Supporters of Donald J. Trump were quick to suggest on Thursday that Pope Francis was being hypocritical to criticize as un-Christian Mr. Trump's proposal to build a wall between the United States and Mexico because the pontiff himself lives …

Ted Cruz birther lawsuit makes it to Cook County courtroom  —  Justin Wm.  Moyer  —  January 1, 1900  —  Not along ago, Illinois pharmacist and attorney Lawrence Joyce began to realize his country and his political party were facing what he considered to be a nightmare.

Ted Cruz suggests Phil Robertson for U.N. ambassador  —  Washington (CNN)Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz made an unusual suggestion for U.N. ambassador at a rally on Friday: “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson.  —  “How much would you pay to see the Russian ambassador's face when Phil says, ‘What is wrong with you people?’”

GOP Sen. Murkowski Backtracks On Giving Obama's SCOTUS Nom A Hearing  —  Moderate GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski (AK), one of the few Republicans initially willing to break ranks on whether President Obama's nominee to succeed Antonin Scalia should be considered, reversed course Thursday evening.

My Parents, My Landlords  —  Enter neighborhood, city, zip or address  —  When Jessica Sanderoff graduated from college a decade ago and began searching for Manhattan apartments in her price range, she saw many things.  Fourth-floor walk-ups and fifth-floor walk-ups.

Concern over African-American only student assembly  —  Shortly after arriving at school Wednesday morning, an announcement over the public announcement system instructed black freshmen to go to the auditorium for an assembly.  Arron Perkins says his sister was in math class.