The Republican debate on the Fox News Channel generated torrents of comment in social media for various reasons: the absence of frontrunner Donald Trump, who boycotted the debate, accusing Fox of not being fair to him; the battle between Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio for runnerup; and questioner Megyn Kelly's hair. Twitter followers were divided on the new short style, one calling it "scary awesome."

The winner in the February 1 Iowa caucuses may be none of those in the running. A new winter snowstorm moving from the Intermountain West is forecast for a large part of the central and northern Plains during Monday night and Tuesday.

While other candidates were giving their views on a variety of foreign and domestic issues on the eve of the Iowa caucuses, a petulant Donald Trump sought to satisfy his hunger for publicity by staging an impromptu fundraiser for veterans. Trump said the event brought in $6 million, which included $1 million of his own money. He set up a special website for donations, which were routed to Trump's private foundation. Sounds like something the Clintons might do.

Are you an employer who might be guilty of the "gender binary"? Then you should be aware of a new Labor Department regulation removing the terms "he" and "she" from a rule prohibiting discrimination in the workforce in an effort to "avoid the gender binary."

Bernie Sanders says candidly he will raise taxes if elected president. Hillary Clinton is not that open but the Tax Foundation tells us she has a tax plan that would raise taxes by $498 billion over the next decade and would reduce the economy's size by 1 percent.

How Your Taxes Are Spent
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is spending $80,000 to see what effect space flight has on oral herpes.

Just when we thought Donald Trump couldn't be any more outrageous he boasted that his support is so strong, "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters."

Jeb Bush plunged in the polls but his mother still loves him. Barbara Bush came forward to remind voters he's part of the Bush dynasty. Help or hurt?

"No, I wouldn't." - President Obama, asked if he would pursue a third term if the law permitted it. He added: "Number one, Michelle wouldn't let me." Last fall he said he was confident he could win re-election if he could run. The mess he's created has got even worse since then and we can't blame him for wanting to walk away from it.

Donald Trump's strategy: he attacks his opponents as "losing candidates" and a critical publication like National Review as a "dying magazine."

"I think some of it will end up in the hands of ... entities, some of which are labeled terrorists." - Secretary of State John Kerry, referring to $150 billion in sanctions relief to Iran under the nuclear agreement he helped negotiate.

President Obama's sloganeering administration: first it was the Justice Department's "Fast and Furious" operation which supplied firearms to Mexican dealers; then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton playing "Fast and Loose" with national security on her personal email server.

A non-partisan government watchdog has driven another nail in Hillary Clinton's political coffin. The Intelligence Community Inspector General, Charles McCullough, reports the private email server she used as secretary of state contained information at an even higher classification level than top secret. Clinton is under a Justice Department investigation.


When Sarah Palin endorsed Donald Trump in Ames, Iowa, it was a test of endurance for the candidate. He had to stand silently while she rambled on for 20 minutes before relinquishing the microphone.



How Your Taxes Are Spent
The General Services Administration designed and constructed a building costing nearly $75 million for an agency that can't use it. Federal Protective Service officials said GSA didn't talk to them during the design phase. According to the Government Accountability Office, GSA thought the new facility was for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Middle Eastern owners of Al Jazeera America are shutting down the cable TV network and Al Gore is wearing a big smile. The venture was launched in 2013 with the purchase of Gore's Current TV for $500 million. The little-watched  news channel had been suffering financially.

Some quotes from the Republican presidential candidates debate: Ted Cruz -- "I'm not going to be taking legal advice from Donald Trump." Ben Carson -- (responding to his first question) "I was going to ask you to wake me up when the time came." Carly Fiorina -- "Unlike another woman in this race, I like spending time with my husband." Take that, Hillary.

President Obama closed a town hall meeting in Louisiana with a hearty, "Thank you, New Orleans!" There was just one problem. He was speaking in Baton Rouge.

Perhaps President Obama should have updated the text of his State of the Union address before delivering it. One of his lines read: "no nation dares to attack us or our allies." Before speaking to a joint session of Congress Obama had learned that Iran had seized and was holding two U.S. Navy boats and their crews.

Republican candidates for president, as expected, were critical of President Obama's final State of the Union speech. Donald Trump called it "boring, rambling and non-substantive." Rand Paul offered some advice that Obama obviously didn't take. He said "the best thing he could do would be to leave office early."

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe might have put his finger on one of Hillary Clinton's most outstanding qualities . In a statement of support, McAuliffe said, "No one's tougher. No one's smarter. And, from personal experience, no one's more fun to throw back a cocktail with."

How many political messages can Michelle Obama send from the House gallery at her husband's final State of the Union speech? Besides activists for various liberal causes, the first lady has invited a Syrian refugee, an Obamacare navigator and the man who brought the case legalizing same-sex marriages. Her box also will include an empty seat representing victims of gun violence.

Newsman Bob Woodward of Watergate fame says an email showing Hillary Clinton ordered a top adviser to go outside the government's classified information to send her information on a "nonsecure" channel shows the then-secretary of state wanted to "subvert the rules." A veterans advocacy group has called on the Justice Department to take action against Clinton -- who maintains innocence.

The attacker who tried to assassinate a Philadelphia police officer with a stolen gun said he did it "in the name of Islam." The city's new mayor, Jim Kenney, said the shooting  had "nothing to do" with Islam and blamed it on "all the guns out on the streets." Who're you gonna believe?"

Former U.S. attorney Joe DiGenova has gone out on a limb and predicts the FBI will recommend charges of criminal conduct as a result of its Clinton investigation. He further forecast a Watergate-style showdown in the Justice Department if Attorney General Loretta Lynch overrules the FBI's findings.

Is Vice President Joe Biden having second thoughts about deciding not to run for president this year. " "I regret it every day," he said in an interview. His comment came as Hillary Clinton remains mired in an investigation of the use of her personal computer for highly sensitive email messages and she trails fellow Democrat Bernie Sanders in some polls.

Reporters smell something funny in Moscow. According to news reports by foreign correspondents, a new men's fragrance inspired by Russian President Vladimir Putin is on sale. Called "Leaders Number One", the product comes in a glossy black bottle carrying a profile image of Putin.

Donald Trump dodges questions and gets by with it ... because he's Donald Trump. When "O'Reilly Factor"  host Bill O'Reilly asked him if he would take military action against Iran, Trump refused to give a straight answer. "I want to be unpredictable," he said. "I'm not gonna tell you right now what I'm gonna do."

Shades of Jimmy Carter! The former president once said he saw a flying saucer and now Hillary Clinton, with her eyes on the Oval Office, has implied she believes in UFO's. She told a New Hampshire newspaper that aliens may already have visited the earth.

"I would check that podium for a raw onion." - Andrea Tantaros of Fox News, questioning the sincerity of President Obama's emotional call for more gun controls, in which he wiped away tears.

"I'm not exactly a career politician." - Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who has been on the government payroll as a member of Congress since 1991, following an 8-year term as mayor.

An oft-quoted reference to an era of bipartisanship in Washington is the after-hours cocktail chats between President Reagan and House Speaker Tip O'Neill. Could there be a repeat of that if Hillary Clinton is elected president? She has revealed that she once took on Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in a drinking contest during a congressional junket. "We have our political differences, but we sat there drinking vodka," she said.

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld brought out some odd information  about President Obama during a recent interview in a car. Seinfeld asked him how he copes with stress. "I curse," said the president.