Last week, Senator Rand Paul was detained by the TSA and subjected to a pat-down. The White House disputed this chain of events, but the senator stood by it. Ron Paul stuck up for his son in the coming days, and on CNN’s State of the Union, Paul went down a list of problems he has with the TSA and why it should be abolished. Candy Crowley asked Paul what he would put in the place of the TSA. Paul answered that it could easily be handled by the private sector, and insisted the government has no place being involved in it.

They grow up so fast, don’t they? Online political media giant Politico turns five years old today, and to celebrate, the site posted a video roast by some quotable notables in the political media world. While the site has arguably earned the right to toot its own horn at least once every half-decade, did they really have to overshadow the birthday of Saved By The Bell actress Tiffani-Amber Thiessen?

On CNN’s State of the Union today, South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint responded to an assertion made by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last week on Meet the Press that the influence of the Tea Party has been dying down as the economy is slowly picking up steam. Reid claimed that Republicans are starting to realize the Tea Party is too radical and are trying to distance themselves from it, but DeMint argued that the movement is still going strong.

In an interview with Candy Crowley on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Ron Paul slammed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, saying it “undermine[d] the concept of liberty” and “destroyed the principle of private property and private choices.”

Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) has served the state of Indiana in six consecutive terms in the U.S. Senate. While hard core conservatives may derisively point to his willingness to work with his ideological foes across the aisle, Lugar is a well respected member of congress recognized for his tough but well informed positions on U.S. foreign policy. Still, he finds himself in battle with some home-grown Tea Party candidates for his Senate seat, which Lugar took aim at during a sit down with CNN’s Candy Crowley.

Rick Santorum appeared on CNN’s State of the Union earlier today, and he addressed his accusation least week that the Obama administration engages in appeasement. The president responded by suggesting people ask Osama bin Laden and other terrorists he’s killed under his administration if he favors appeasement. When Candy Crowley took issue with how Santorum was accusing Obama of appeasement, Santorum incredulously interrupted to tell Crowley she wasn’t being accurate.

Ron Paul has been slowly rising in the polls, ahead of politically mainstream candidates in some states. So when Donald Trump announced he would be sponsoring a Republican debate, the congressman did what any rational human being would have done: he declined the invite, calling the debate “beneath the office of the presidency.” Today on CNN’s State of the Union, Paul explained just exactly how little he cared about attended the Trump debate.

On CNN’s State of the Union today, Candy Crowley asked Senator John McCain if the Republican party should be worried about courting Hispanic voters in places like his home state of Arizona heading into next year’s presidential election, particularly given the anti-immigration sentiments of many of the candidates. McCain explained the policy of the United States should be “humane” when it comes to dealing with such matters, a word that got Newt Gingrich in hot water with conservatives when he used it about immigration several weeks ago.

Herman Cain’s poll numbers are not what they once were, and Herman Cain knows it. On CNN’s State of the Union this morning, host Candy Crowley asked Herman Cain to explain that drop, and what had been going wrong with Herman Cain’s campaign. According to Herman Cain, the drop was due to “obviously, false accusations and confusion on some of my positions,” but “in terms of the mechanics of the campaign, nothing has gone wrong.” Herman Cain then started talking about his stance on abortion.

On CNN’s State of the Union today, former Obama advisor David Axelrod expressed his frustration on Congressional inaction on many important issues related to the economy and, more specifically, the inability of Republicans to come together with the president on issues they normally agree with.

On Sunday’s State Of The Union, CNN’s Candy Crowley interviewed Vice President Joe Biden and pressed him on his comments that tied failing to pass Obama’s jobs bill to an increase in rape and murder. “Is it your intention to say, when you give these speeches that if Republicans don’t pass the president’s jobs bill, they will be responsible for increases in rape and murder?” Crowley questioned, alluding to Human Events reporter Jason Mattera‘s heated exchange with the Vice President. Biden disputed that he was playing politics.

In an interview with CNN’s Candy Crowley on Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden refused to rule out a race for the White House in 2016, when he will turn 74. Crowley asked if he had ruled out a run in ’16, Biden replied, “I’ll make up my mind on that later.” The clip, which aired [...]

On State of the Union today, Candy Crowley pressed presidential candidate Herman Cain on whether disparities in education and incarceration rates between America at large and the African-American community were forms of institutionalized racism and whether black citizens are on the same economic playing field as everybody else in the United States.

Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann appeared on CNN’s State of the Union today, and Candy Crowley suggested that the congresswoman’s campaign may be “imploding” because of her poor showing in recent polls following her victory in the Iowa straw poll only several weeks ago. Bachmann countered that Crowley’s assertion was “completely inaccurate.”

On CNN’s State of the Union today, Senator Lindsey Graham believed the presidential race would be decided by not just President Obama’s record in office, but the record and ideology of the Republican nominee.

In a statement so rich, Republicans are refusing to tax it, GOP presidential can’tidate Tim Pawlenty (R-The Drain) rhetorically asked CNN’s Candy Crowley of President Obama, “Is he chicken?”

This is the same Tim Pawlenty (R-KFC), you may recall, who refused to repeat his criticism of rival Mitt Romney during a GOP presidential debate in June. Pawlenty also asked, “If you’re the leader of the free world, would you please come to the microphone, and quit hiding in the basement?”

As the deadline looms for America defaulting on its national debt, the parties appear to not have inched any closer to a compromise. On State of the Union today, Sen. Lindsey Graham confirmed that he was sticking to the proposed “cut, cap, and balance” plan with very little wiggle room for compromise, and when asked whether he is prepared for the aftermath of the plan being shot down, he merely stated, “I’m focusing on Plan A.”

CNN’s The Situation Room had the honor of debuting this weekend’s biggest story– the lewd photo allegedly surfacing on Rep. Anthony Weiner‘s Twitter account– on cable news. And adding yet more pieces to the puzzle, CNN managed to track down Rep. Weiner for an official comment, the first time the Congressman has addressed the issue on television.

Potential Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has dominated the airwaves as of late, as he grants interviews to anyone with a camera for him to appear in front of or a telephone for him to call. Much like the four stages of grief, it seems like Trump’s various interviewers are each at various stages along the path of the “Four Stages of a Trump Interview.”

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham appeared on State of the Union to discuss the apparent military stalemate in Libya between Gaddafi’s forces and the rebels. Graham acknowledged the mandate from the United Nations does not necessarily allow for more aggressive intervention by coalition forces, yet Graham firmly believed if more wasn’t done to aid the rebels soon then there would be no progress.

Possible presidential candidate Donald Trump has spent much of his burgeoning campaign taking swipes at President Obama, but in the second part of his interview with State of the Union‘s Candy Crowley, Trump made Mitt Romney the target of some (not so) friendly fire. He called Romney a “small business guy” who “got rid of jobs,” and boasted about his own net worth, compared to Romney’s.

On Sunday’s State of the Union, CNN’s Candy Crowley became the latest interviewer to host Donald Trump‘s Magical Birth Certificate Mystery Tour®, and made an admirable attempt to get Trump to face facts. Over the course of a 10-minute interview that saw Trump swatting away at the truth like Birther King Kong, perhaps the funniest moment was Trump’s assertion that he doesn’t “like to talk about this issue too much.”

Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer appeared on State of the Union and accused Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner of pursuing a “reckless” path by allowing talks of a possible government shutdown to persist. With the Democrats and Republicans still in disagreement over how much should be cut from the federal budget, it seems like the battle over the budget is not going to be resolved easily and it won’t be pretty.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld appeared on State of the Union this morning and didn’t mince words when Candy Crowley asked him if he agreed with the opinion that President Obama has been successful in improving America’s image abroad since President George W. Bush. In a word, the typically blunt Rumsfeld said “no” and in a few more words suggested “I don’t think there’s data that supports that.”

Senator Chuck Schumer appeared on CNN‘s State of the Union to sound some alarm bells and warn Republicans that their threats regarding a government shutdown are similar to “playing with fire.” Furthermore, he even suggested a depression would be possible if the Republicans were not willing to compromise.