Michael Hais and Morley Winograd, 01/ 3/12

Co-authors, 'Millennial Momentum' and 'Millennial Makeover'; Fellows with NDN and the New Policy Institute

Among Republicans, the three-way split at the top of the GOP field in Iowa between candidates representing the business-oriented, Evangelical, and libertarian wings of the party suggests a desire for something both different and purer.

Matthew Dowd, 01/ 3/12

Political strategist

Romney is definitely the candidate to beat in this race, but let's let this process play out for a while. So far, we have seen more twists and turns in this race than in a California yoga class.

Daphne Eviatar, 01/ 3/12

Senior Associate, Human Rights First's Law and Security Program

Back when he was a candidate, then-Senator Obama criticized President George W. Bush for his frequent reliance on signing statements to circumvent Congressional intent. What a difference executive power makes.

Lanny Davis, 01/ 3/12

Lawyer, Lanny J. Davis and Associates LLC

It doesn't matter if Mitt Romney wins the Iowa caucuses tonight or not. He is about to experience a severe political hemorrhage.

Ayesha Mattu and Nura Maznavi, 01/ 3/12

Buried in the "controversy" over Bradley Cooper's selection as People's most recent Sexiest Man Alive is a little known fact: If you had polled American Muslim women the winner would have been -- wait for it -- Jon Stewart.

Paul Abrams, 01/ 3/12

Last person on Earth not on Facebook

Virginia Law sets the conditions for candidates to get on the Virginia primary ballot. Now come Gingrich, Santorum, Perry and Bachmann asking a judge to overrule the law and put them on the ballot. What kind of judge could possibly do that?

Daoud Kuttab, 01/ 3/12

Palestinian journalist

As the people of the region watch the comings and goings of negotiations to the Jordanian capital, what will happen inside the negotiating room will be nothing more than shadow boxing.

Paul Yeager, 01/ 3/12

Meteorologist and author of 'Weather Whys: Facts, Myths, and Oddities'

From a weather perspective, 2011 will be remembered as a year of extremes. This includes a record-breaking 12 billion-dollar-plus weather disaster.

Rozanne Gold, 01/ 3/12

Chef and author

For decades I have tracked trends, and created many of them. Some have lingered longer than most marriages, yet others still hover around or are merely a reflection of personal wishes. Some were so ahead of their time as to be forgotten or "invented" by someone else.

James Peron, 01/ 3/12

President, Moorfield Storey Institute

The moment someone tells me "marriage has always been" something or another, I know they are ignorant of the actual history of marriage. It has never "always" been anything. It has taken different forms, with different social rules attached.

Scott Mendelson, 01/ 3/12

Film Critic at Mendelson's Memos, Valley Scene Magazine

While most critics make a point to try to seek out the allegedly best in cinema in any given year, not quite as much effort is made to track down every would-be stinker.

Justin Levitt, 01/ 3/12

Associate professor, Loyola Law School

In the first days of 2012, it's useful to take stock of our democratic infrastructure -- and, since we're in the thick of the redistricting cycle, to gauge our national progress in drawing the lines that will determine representation for the next ten years.

Bernard-Henri Lévy, 01/ 3/12

French philosopher; Writer

Beginning in 1915, the Armenians were the victims of a methodic attempt at annihilation. No serious historian casts doubt upon this reality or denies it. It is the negationist revisionists who, up until now, have hampered the work of historians.

Marty Kaplan, 01/ 3/12

Director, Norman Lear Center and Professor at the USC Annenberg School

For seven days I didn't have salt, meat or CNN. My mornings began without Morning Joe or Morning Edition; I saw sunrise on a mountain hike, not with a clicker in my hand. There's nothing like a little media fast to remind you how little it costs to be a bit out of it.

Rep. Gwen Moore, 01/ 3/12

U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 4th Congressional District

The only thing "unusual" about the recall movement is Scott Walker's inability to listen to the will of the people of Wisconsin. As soon as he was elected he forgot who he was there to represent.

Jodyne L. Speyer, 01/ 3/12

Author, "Dump 'Em: How to Break Up With Anyone From Your Best Friend to Your Hairdresser"

I loved the woman who ended my parents' marriage. She was not a bitch or a whore.

James Moore, 01/ 3/12

Author, 'Adios Mofo: Why Rick Perry Will Make America Miss George W. Bush'

Mitt Romney has money and the moderate politics to give the president a tough fight in the fall. But he doesn't give his own party those sweaty palms of excitement. He could have a very miserable 2012.

Fawaz Gerges, 01/ 3/12

Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics

Shrouded in myth and inflated by a self-sustaining industry of so-called terrorism "experts" and a well-funded national security industrial complex, the power of Al-Qaeda can only be eradicated when the fantasies around the group are laid to rest.

Gary W. Small, M.D., 01/ 3/12

Dr. Gary Small is a professor of psychiatry and director of the UCLA Longevity Center

My wife's 103-year-old grandmother lived in a third floor walk-up apartment in New York City. The exercise she got on those stairs and errands may not only have protected her heart so she could live past 100, it may also have protected her brain.

Larry Magid, 01/ 3/12

Technology journalist

Let's be honest. Many children -- especially post-pubescent boys -- are interested in what we commonly call "porn." You might not like the idea that some kids are looking at these images, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a pretty common occurrence.

Evie M. Salomon and Richard A. Salomon, 01/ 3/12

Each day we have the ability to transform lives, to speak out against injustice, to be "upstanders" for positive change. Why do we remain silent?

John Campbell, 01/ 3/12

It was predictable that Michele Bachmann would seize on the new Meryl Streep movie about Margaret Thatcher to try to revive her faltering campaign by pitching herself as America's Iron Lady. But does it fit?

Edward Wasserman, 01/ 3/12

Knight Foundation professor of journalism ethics, Washington and Lee University

Our country isn't unique in making war needlessly, but we may be unique in our insouciance. Attention really should be paid. After all, destroying another country is a big deal.

John Feffer, 01/ 3/12

Co-director, Foreign Policy In Focus

The backlash happening today in Moscow is a combination of the tea party movement and Occupy Wall Street. Anarchists stand side-by-side with great-power nationalists; libertarians and old-style communists protest in rough unison.