Gov. Bobby Jindal's name is not first on most people's list of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, but maybe we should at least start paying attention to him. If one's political enemies are any indication of potential strength, Jindal of Louisiana may be a more formidable force than some people realize.

here was a time when the 63-year-old National Prayer Breakfast was a rather mundane affair. It rarely made news. Speakers -- evangelist Billy Graham spoke at most of the early ones -- talked about Jesus and salvation.

As if we aren't already divided enough by race, class, gender, political party, economic status and sexual orientation, the federal government is reportedly thinking about creating a new category of Americans just in time for the next census.

The network meteorologists barely had time to come up for air while "forecasting" the latest snowstorm non-disaster. Politicians, fearing what might happen to their approval numbers if a blizzard hit, went on TV to announce they were taking proactive measures.

As thousands descended on Washington last week for the annual "March for Life," the Republican House of Representatives was busy watering down an antiabortion bill that restricted abortions after 20 weeks, except in cases of rape or incest, with exemptions allowed only after a police report had been filed.

LONDON -- It is an old debating point: Do the times make the man, or does the man make the times? In the case of Winston Churchill, whose death 50 years ago Saturday the British are remembering with more than nostalgia, it is both.

Here's a suggestion for Joni Ernst, the new Republican senator from Iowa, who will deliver the GOP response to the State of the Union address Tuesday night.

Social media is agog over George Clooney's tribute to his wife, Amal, at last weekend's Golden Globe Awards in Hollywood. Women, especially, are swooning in their tweets and Facebook postings.

The late Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times, Paul Conrad, frequently used religious symbols to illustrate his point of view. Conrad drew the ire of some readers whenever he used the Star of David or a cross in his drawings. Letters to the editor denounced him, but to my knowledge no one showed up at the newspaper to kill him.

It is from an Aesop fable we get the phrase, "A man is known by the company he keeps."

How precious in the sight of progressives was one of their saints, Mario Cuomo, the three-term governor of New York who died last week at age 82. He was a model of progressivism and a gifted rhetorician.

The commander of American Special Operations in the Middle East, Major Gen. Michael K. Nagata, is reported to be seeking help in learning why the Islamic State is so dangerous.

In the film, "Girl, Interrupted," Winona Ryder plays an 18-year-old who enters a mental institution for what is diagnosed as borderline personality disorder.

Suppose what some call the "Christmas story" is true -- all of it, from the angels, to the shepherds, to the virgin birth, to God taking on human flesh.

NEW YORK -- I wanted to like the movie because I love the book. Laura Hillenbrand's bestseller, "Unbroken," is a classic.

Is it possible to hold two seemingly contradictory thoughts about the president's decision to partially end the half-century embargo against Cuba? Can one agree with conservative critics, from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), to Rush Limbaugh about how the Castro brothers are, apparently, getting everything they want and how the U.S. gets nothing but promises from a repressive regime that lies -- and still back the president's decision?

The attack on a cafe in Sydney, Australia, by a self-described Islamic cleric with a long police record, left two hostages dead, along with the cleric, one Man Haron Monis. He was an Iranian refugee who enjoyed the hospitality and protection of the Australian government.

INDIANAPOLIS -- If success at the state level were enough to recommend someone for president of the United States, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana would be among the frontrunners for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.

What good purpose is served by releasing a report on CIA enhanced interrogation techniques while we are still at war with an enemy whose techniques include beheading Americans?

Like two predatory animals circling each other, Republicans and Democrats are trying to sort out the meaning of last month's election and plan strategies for the remaining days of the current Congress and the new one in which Republicans will hold majorities in both houses.