Yes, the ongoing saga continues between The Daily Caller, Media Matters, and possibly Fox News. Just to recap: Tucker Carlson, who runs the Caller and works for Fox News, launched an investigation into Media Matters, a big target of Fox News. The investigation turned up an internal memo from Media Matters saying they should hire private investigators to spy on the personal lives of FNC personalities. On CNN’s Reliable Sources today, Howard Kurtz talked about the story with Caller editor Vince Coglianese.

Ron Paul appeared on CNN’s State of the Union today, and in addition to boosting his own candidacy, Candy Crowley asked him about latest frontrunner Rick Santorum and whether or not a candidate like him, so focused on social issues, can successfully run against President Obama. Paul honestly answered, “I don’t see how that’s possible,” before explaining why making social issues the focus of a presidential campaign is probably not a good idea for Republicans.

After a brief hiatus last week, The Colbert Report is returning to its normal production schedule tomorrow, with all four episodes planned to be released this week following The Daily Show. Last Wednesday and Thursday, the show suddenly halted production when, according to reports, Stephen Colbert‘s mother started feeling gravely ill and the comedian immediately dropped everything to be with his family.

Before welcoming Congressman Ron Paul on State of the Union today, Candy Crowley took time to point out that Paul has not won a single contest in the Republican presidential race so far. In upcoming primary states, Paul is trailing his rivals in either third or fourth place. The closest Paul has come so far is a narrow margin of votes between him and Mitt Romney, and Crowley asked Paul how he expected to make a strong showing in the field if he is unable to win a single primary or caucus.

On Meet the Press today, Congressman Paul Ryan talked payroll tax cuts and much else, but David Gregory shifted the conversation to ask Ryan a more political question about the race for the presidency on his side of the aisle. If Mitt Romney ends up losing the Michigan primary to Rick Santorum and is no longer the moderate conservative who has the best chance against President Obama, does Ryan think another person should get into the race?

Lawrence O’Donnell‘s new “Lean Forward” ad for MSNBC takes on the GI bill passed during World War II to take care of soliders returning home from war. In the promo, O’Donnell described the bill as “the most successful educational program that we’ve ever had in this country” even though its opponents referred to it as welfare. But according to Politifact, that statement is not accurate.

“It’s panic time among Republican leaders.” That’s how Chris Matthews opened a segment of his show today, looking at the topsy-turvy Alice-in-Wonderland world that has arisen from the Republican party’s contest to choose a presidential nominee. Whether it’s Mitt Romney‘s staggering inability to connect with voters or Rick Santorum‘s staggering ability to make the establishment uncomfortable, there’s pretty much no rhyme or reason to this thing anymore.

Last week, Las Vegas casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson pledged another 10 million dollars to Newt Gingrich‘s presidential campaign. The candidates are now becoming more defined by who is giving them money and how much they are associating with said individuals. On Fox News Sunday today, Gingrich appeared to explain the personal relationship he has with Adelson and why the billionaire mogul is giving so much money to the pro-Gingrich Super PAC.

Senator John McCain appeared on This Week today from Afghanistan, but before getting onto matters of foreign policy, he weighed in on the Republican contest going on in the United States and continued to speak out forcefully on an issue that has been part of his political identity for over a decade: campaign finance reform. McCain has not been the biggest fan of Super PACs, and McCain today blasted the Supreme Court for its decision in the Citizens United case two years ago.

Is the almost-assured Republican primary contest victor no longer as assured? That seems to be the general consensus going around about Mitt Romney recently, as his polling numbers have dropped in the wake of a powerful Rick Santorum wave that has completely eclipsed the GOP field. On Fox News Sunday today, Chris Wallace asked his panelists what will happen to Romney’s candidacy if he loses Michigan, an important state for him to snatch in the primary season.

Rick Santorum made headlines yesterday when he went after President Obama for basing his agenda on a “phony theology,” a theology Santorum did not think was based in the Bible. On Face the Nation today, Santorum clarified what he meant with his remarks, saying he was not questioning the sincerity of the president’s faith, and he wasn’t even talking about religion anyway, he was talking about the ideological rigidity of the environmentalist movement and Obama’s connection to it.

During a recent campaign stop, Rick Santorum brought up the inclusion of prenatal care in the Affordable Care Act, and made a bold proclamation that giving women prenatal care leads to more abortions. On Face the Nation today, Bob Schieffer challenged Santorum on his assertion, asking him if what he was saying is fundamentally unscientific and against what the majority of doctors would advise.

Rick Santorum has used the past week of media focus on social issues to his advantage, by branding himself as the strong, family-values social conservative who stands up for what he believes. This has resulted in Santorum becoming the frontrunner in the GOP race once again, while Newt Gingrich struggles to be heard in the race. While speaking at a Christian conference yesterday, Santorum criticized the president’s moral compass, suggesting his entire agenda was based on a “phony theology.”

Four years ago, Barack Obama was the idealist outsider who ran on a platform of bringing change to the Washington establishment and giving Americans hope in a time of economic peril. Fast-forward to today, and the president’s campaign team acknowledges the realities of their situation would not permit them to use the same slogans and rhetoric as the last time around. The president is presiding over an economy that most Americans have a gloomy view of, and a good number of former Obama supporters have been increasingly dissatisfied with certain policies he has chosen to pursue.

Ron Paul is still in the Republican race, and he is continuing to deliver his unfiltered message to audiences across the nation. Last night he spoke to an annual conference of Missouri Republicans, where he had some words of warning for the direction the United States is heading in. Because Paul was speaking near the United States’ World War I statue, he took the opportunity to attack Woodrow Wilson, of all people, for being part of the catalyst that has brought the nation to its present predicament.

Bill Maher revisited a recurring theme of his show in his final New Rule tonight: conservatives actively disrespecting President Obama to his face. From Congressman Joe Wilson to Bill O’Reilly, Maher argued there is a consistent pattern emerging that Obama is being treated far worse by his opposition than any Democratic president of the past fifty years. And as he did exactly a year ago, Maher patiently acknowledged the numerous insults he threw at George W. Bush…

After a week of heavy emphasis on social issues and a possibly-related surge of Rick Santorum in national polls, Mitt Romney is throwing all of his egss in the Michigan basket, and Bill Maher said on his show tonight that after months of Romney being the inevitable nominee, there is now a very real chance that Romney’s coronation may not happen. And if Romney loses Michigan, the entire Republican contest may descend into absolute chaos.

For every liberal action there is an equal and opposite conservative reaction, and Sean Hannity gave his reaction tonight to MSNBC finally parting ways with controversial commentator Pat Buchanan after ten long years. Buchanan spoke to Hannity in an exclusive interview, and while the first part of it focused on both men attacking MSNBC, Hannity did grill Buchanan over his racially charged comments about the dangers of America no longer being a majority-white country.

Is Mitt Romney a conservative or not? This is a question that will haunt the Republican presidential candidate from now until November (assuming he makes it to the general election). Some people have argued Romney is coming around to the conservative position, others think Romney is just a moderate in conservative skin. George Will went with the latter presumption on This Week today, likening Romney to a foreigner in a distant land where he doesn’t know how to communicate well with the locals.

In a recent piece for Washington Post, columnist Ezra Klein referred to President Obama as a “moderate president in an immoderate time.” In contrast with conservatives (and some liberals) who think Obama is too ideologically rigid, many like Klein believe he has been one of the most moderate presidents of our era. David Gregory discussed this with the panel on Meet the Press, and whether it’s the president or his rivals who are more ideologically stubborn.

On Face the Nation today, Bob Schieffer told Congressman Ron Paul that he agrees with the idea that Paul is a consistent, principled politician who believes what he says. And this has certainly given Paul a strong base of supporters in the caucuses and on the internet. But with the exception of Paul’s loyal following, are any Republicans really that enthusiastic about the presidential race given how lackluster they consider candidates like Mitt Romney to be?

Mitt Romney‘s inevitable nomination by the Republican party this fall is becoming less inevitable by the day. He got swept away by Rick Santorum in three states last week, and he only won Maine in a narrow victory over Ron Paul. Romney is the candidate of choice for Republican moderates who don’t want a strong social conservative nominee. On his show today, Chris Matthews asked the panel what Romney is going to have to do in order to win over more than just the moderates.

One week ago today, CNN contributor Roland Martin was tweeting during the Super Bowl, and ended up making some controversial comments that were interpreted by some as homophobic. Martin initially defended himself in the wake of calls by groups like GLAAD to get him fired, and then eventually apologized for his remarks, before CNN finally suspended him indefinitely. On Reliable Sources today, Howard Kurtz and panel debated whether this was the right move.

Rick Santorum‘s three victories last week gave his campaign a brief moment of victory before getting bogged down in another controversy over social issues. Santorum has said publicly that he has concerns about women serving in combat alongside men because of how it can impact troops’ emotions on the battlefield, and in one of his books argued that modern feminism has destroyed the traditional family. On This Week today, George Stephanopoulos brought up Santorum’s comments and asked him to clarify exactly what he meant by these remarks.

Congressman Paul Ryan appeared on This Week today, and he responded to a recent poll brought up by George Stephanopoulos that the approval rating of Congress is currently at 10 percent, worse than Nixon’s worst day during Watergate. Ryan’s response to everyone who is dissatisfied with Washington is simple: the Republican House has been working tirelessly to get legislation passed, but the Senate keeps stonewalling everything and preventing anything from getting accomplished.