Swing States poll: A shift by women puts Obama in lead  —  MILWAUKEE - President Obama has opened the first significant lead of the 2012 campaign in the nation's dozen top battleground states, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, boosted by a huge shift of women to his side.

Signs of Supreme Court activism worry Reagan administration lawyers  —  Advocates of judicial restraint say conservative justices should be wary of the impulse to strike down the healthcare law passed by Congress.  —  John G. Roberts Jr., now chief justice of the Supreme Court …

Biden stands by Obama on ‘hot mic’ controversy  —  (CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden defended President Barack Obama on Sunday, saying the president was only stating “the obvious” in his “hot mic” moment with the Russian president earlier this week.  —  “The idea that in this election year we're …

Rep. Paul Ryan: ‘I really misspoke’  —  (CNN) - House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan said Sunday he misspoke earlier in the week when he accused military officials of not being honest about the Pentagon budget.  —  “I really misspoke,” Ryan said on CNN's “State of the Union.”

Tongue-cutting at Al Jazeera  —  An overtly racist remark from John Podhoertz is grounded in relentless propaganda about the meaning of Terrorism  —  I'm currently conducting interviews as a follow-up to the rather acrimonious debate that erupted this week from my argument that …

49% Trust Republicans on Economy, 38% Trust Democrats More  —  As they have for nearly three years now, voters trust Republicans more than Democrats when it comes to handling the economy, by far the top issue on a list of 10 regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports.

I Screamed It Couldn't Be Done  —  The Orlando Sentinel brings on some voice experts to analyze a 911 call in the Trayvon Martin shooting to attempt to establish whether it is Zimmerman or Martin screaming for help.  I have previously expressed my skepticism of this process:

Rick Santorum on pressure to quit GOP race; Dean, Barbour preview general election  —  Special Guests: Rick Santorum, Howard Dean, Haley Barbour … CHRIS WALLACE, HOST: I'm Chris Wallace.  —  With Republican leaders uniting behind Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum fights for his political life.

Police Tracking of Cellphones Raises Privacy Fears  —  WASHINGTON — Law enforcement tracking of cellphones, once the province mainly of federal agents, has become a powerful and widely used surveillance tool for local police officials, with hundreds of departments, large and small …

“Ethicist” sees no ethical issue with excluding women  —  We're hip-deep into a year that's been overflowing with virulent antifeminist backlash.  Another outbreak of the epidemic as occurred, but this time it's in a most unexpected place: the New York Times' Ethicist column.

EXCLUSIVE - PALIN TO COURIC: ‘GAME ON’  —  When news broke that Katie Couric will be filling in for Robin Roberts next week on ABC's “Good Morning America,” the country yawned.  Or, at least we did, until we learned that NBC plans to pit “The Rogue Warrior” against “The Perky One” …

House Dems eye policy responses to shooting death of Trayvon Martin  —  In the wake of the slaying of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, House Democrats are drafting legislation designed to prevent similar tragedies in the future.  —  The lawmakers want to adopt tougher rules for neighborhood watch programs …