Texas Gov. Rick Perry declared in the latest Republican presidential debate that he had never advocated turning Social Security over to the states. His denial was hard to fathom given his past rhetoric about the program.

She says what she wants, does what she wants and makes no apologies. And love her or hate her, you can't really argue with this: Politics as usual has never been Sarah Palin's style.

In her new book, Sarah Palin takes on everything from "American Idol" to "American Beauty" to "Murphy Brown," revives talk of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and takes issue with JFK's famous religion speech, saying he "wanted to run away from religion."

Since the moment in 1789 when a Revolutionary War hero named George Washington recited a 35-word oath, Americans have expected certain things from their presidents. For good reason: In a society that has mythologized itself from its earliest days,...