Trump Fear Stalks Davos as Elite Pray for Spring Reality Check  —  Concerns over protectionism and U.S. reputation bubble up  —  Ex-White House advisor still thinks Trump will be nominee  —  If Donald Trump as president of the United States is the ghost that's stalking Davos …

The Battle for the Soul of the Right  —  At the moment, the Republican establishment is relevant to the presidential nomination battle only as an epithet.  —  Two weeks from the Iowa caucuses, the fight for the Republican nomination isn't so much a vicious brawl between the grass roots …

Carly Fiorina accused of ‘ambushing’ children for anti-abortion rally  —  Party of schoolchildren visiting Iowa botanical garden become part of backdrop for Republican presidential candidate's speech on abortion  —  Carly Fiorina has been accused of “ambushing” a group of children …

Bill Clinton questions Hillary's Super Tuesday plan  —  Bill Clinton is getting nervous.  —  With polls showing Bernie Sanders ahead in New Hampshire and barely behind, if at all, in Iowa, the former president is urging his wife to start looking toward the delegate-rich March primaries …

The Bush blame game begins  —  They think he wasted money on everything from an iPad-sized video mailer to direct mail for donors in states that don't yet matter.  They think his attacks on Marco Rubio are doing more harm than good.  And they worry that, at the end, all he will have accomplished …

As Water Problems Grew, Officials Belittled Complaints From Flint  —  LANSING, Mich. — A top aide to Michigan's governor referred to people raising questions about the quality of Flint's water as an “anti-everything group.”  Other critics were accused of turning complaints about water into a “political football.”

Oregon standoff: One of protesters has murder conviction  —  Neil Sigurd Wampler (center, green coat), 68, is among the protesters taking part in the armed occupation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge outside Burns.  Here is pictured here behind Ammon Bundy, who is speaking at a morning news conference.

Bernie Sanders, and Simon and Garfunkel, Put Focus on Voters  —  With the help of the Simon and Garfunkel song “America,” Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has released a powerful 60-second commercial in Iowa that seeks to remind his supporters how far he, and they, have come — and to inspire them anew to caucus for him on Feb. 1.

Immigrant Song  —  With Republican presidential candidates daily falling over themselves to slam the door hardest on immigrants to our shores, especially those of specific nationalities and religions, it's interesting to note that 2015 also marks the fiftieth anniversary of the boldest step America ever took in the opposite direction.

Muslim cleric ‘says Cologne sex attacks were VICTIMS’ fault because they wore perfume'  —  A MUSLIM cleric has allegedly claimed women sexually assaulted during the New-Year Cologne attacks are to blame “because they were half naked” - in a shocking statement.  —  GETTY  •IG

Is The Supreme Court Poised To Redefine Obama's Executive Power?  —  It was not unexpected that the Supreme Court took up a case Tuesday challenging the Obama administration's executive actions on immigration.  But it was somewhat of a surprise that in doing so, the court asked to be briefed …

McCain: ‘I respect’ Palin's decision on Trump  —  Sen. John McCain declined on Wednesday to criticize Sarah Palin, his former running mate, for endorsing Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump.  —  “I respect her view,” McCain (R-Ariz.) told reporters in the Senate on Wednesday …