Sunday's Chrysler Super Bowl ad caused some political reaction, but maybe America needs a pep talk from America's outlaw and tough guy Clint Eastwood. Host John Hockenberry looks at the Eastwood speech in the context of his epic career and America's need for some tough love in these troubled times. Half time in America? Maybe, but we could sure use some encouragement from Clint.

Nationwide confidence in our lawmakers is at an all time low. And this news isn't like to change that. More than 30 members of Congress have used over $ 300 million in earmarks and other spending to fund many public projects close to their own properties. That's the finding of an extensive investigation published in today's Washington Post. The Post also found 16 lawmakers who had sent tax dollars to places where members of their families work or serve on boards.

Next month, the final volume of the Dictionary of American Regional English will be released. A project initially undertaken in the 1950s by linguist Federic Cassidy, the goal was to record all the words and phrases that are unique to specific parts of the U.S. Listeners responded with their favorite regionalisms.

As famous for its commercials as the big game itself, this year the Super Bowl premiered an ad starring New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston mayor Tom Menino. The thirty-second spot promoted Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition group of 600 mayors organized to promote urban safety by preventing the flow of illegal weapons into cities across the United States. While the ad may have seemed out of place alongside ads for cars, websites, and beers, the message it promoted was, in many ways, as uncontroversial as the aforementioned products.

If you've got a copy of the Dictionary of Regional English, you know that "hotdish" is a casserole-style meal popular throughout Minnesota. A "quahog" is common word for "clam" in New England. And "Euchre" is a card game beloved by Midwesterners of all stripes. Next month the final volume of the Dictionary of American Regional English, or DARE, will be released by the Harvard University Press.

Jessica Ahlquist, a 16-year-old-junior at Cranston High School West, is an outspoken atheist who believes that prayer should not be on display in public schools. Last month she expressed her views at school board hearings and a federal judge ruled in her favor deeming prayer's presence at Cranston High School to be unconstitutional. In retaliation, residents have threatened Ahlquist and others like State Representative Peter G. Palumbo have called her "an evil little thing." 

It's getting down to the wire in Florida, with Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney neck-and-neck in the polls. The Latino vote is essential to win the Sunshine State, but it might be even more important for the general election in November. According to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, 12.2 million Latinos will vote in the 2012 presidential election, a 26 percent increase from 2008. But whether Latinos like what they've seen in the lead-up to the Florida primary remains to be seen.

The main focus of Tuesday’s State of the Union address was the economy and income inequality. Along with his ideas about taxation and protecting homeowners, president Obama also expressed a desire to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. Since the 1980s, the U.S. economy has shifted away from manufacturing and towards intellectual property and services. This has been due in part to the perceived expenses involved in production based in the U.S., as well as labor laws. 

Politicians from both sides of the aisle took to the airwaves to attack or defend president Obama's remarks last night, setting the tone for the rest of his first term in office. But perhaps more importantly, the State of the Union informally kicked off the president's reelection campaign. This morning, The Takeaway takes a look at how his words resonated with three voters from across the country.

A year ago President Obama announced his plans for high speed rail lines and other cutting edge transportation for the nation. But after many defeats in Congress, including the de-funding of high-speed rail, the President’s transportation initiative suddenly seems less futuristic and more focused on rebuilding the old highways of the past. 

On Monday the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that police violated the 4th amendment when they placed a Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking device on a suspect’s car and monitored its movements for 28 days. In his opinion on the case, Justice Anthony Scalia wrote that the use of GPS constituted a "search" and therefore requires a warrant. This ruling may have an impact on other cases where GPS was used, as well as other types of surveillance mechanisms.

The Republican candidates kicked off their Florida campaigns at last night's debate in Tampa. Florida is the first Republican presidential battleground with a significant Latino population, and as Mitt Romney battles Newt Gingrich for the lead in the Sunshine State, Latinos across the country are taking note. How the candidates position themselves on immigration and court the highly influential Cuban-American vote remains to be seen.

Considering Kodak's recent financial woes, the imaging giant's Chapter 11 filing should have come as no surprise. But that hasn't lessened the cultural impact of losing such an iconic American institution. Kodak has been a part of American culture for more than a 100 years. The company made the first consumer camera, and people even called cameras "Kodaks" at the turn of the century. In this commentary we explore the rise and fall of one of America's most identifiable brands.

On Wednesday the Obama administration denied a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline project. TransCanada, the company behind the proposal, hopes to build a 1,700 mile pipeline that will carry oil from the tar sands of Canada to the refineries lining the Gulf Coast along Texas. Although it will cost $ 7 billion to build, TransCanada claims the project will create ten of thousands of jobs. Environmentalist are most concerned about the water supply in ecologically sensitive in Nebraska's Sand Hills region, which TransCanada claims it has addressed by creating a new proposal that circumvents the Sand Hills.

Two conversations this week on the sensitivity of certain subjects in the classroom produced lots of reaction from listeners. A ban on ethnic studies in Tuscon Arizona, and a resistance to teaching Climate Change as an accepted body of knowledge in certain school districts around the country raises a broader question. Are there pieces of history and science that are simply too hot to handle in a classroom where active debate may get away from the truth and consensus on what to teach may be hard to find?

We have been talking about the attack ads aimed at Mitt Romney in South Carolina and wanted to reach out to his supporters in the Bible Belt to find out how they are feeling about this. But it hasn't been an easy task. Different from the Libertarians rallying around Ron Paul or the Tea Party supporters Mitt Romney's base seems a bit more reserved. Joining us is Kathy Courtland from Houston, Texas.

A decisive, but not surprising, victory last night for Mitt Romney. He won the New Hampshire primary last night with almost 40 percent of the vote. But he doesn't emerge for the state as the presumptive nominee yet, and the devil is in the details. Ron Christie, Republican political strategist, political contributor for the Takeaway and It’s a Free Country, and John Zogby, president of the polling firm Zogby International, discuss Tuesday night's outcome.

It's the 150th anniversary of The Civil War and the effects are still with us. Celeste Headlee reflects on her family's role in the Civil War; the branches of her family tree include both slaves and owners. The Civil War is over, but the fight continues; we still argue over whether to fly the Confederate flag and how to teach the history of the war.

One of the most difficult conversations we can have in our society has to do with race. In some ways the conversation is complicated by recent milestone events in racial equality like the election of President Barack Obama. But Jay Smooth says that milestones like that are exactly the reason why we need to think and communicate more effectively about race as such milestones can obfuscate the real inequalities that still remain in our society.

Here's some uplifting news for the holiday season. A new study finds that in 2011 Americans were the most generous people in the world. The U.S. rose from fifth place on the "World Giving Index" in 2010 to number one this year. Ireland placed second, followed by Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain. What tipped the scale in the U.S.'s favor this year was not just monetary donations, but volunteer work and kindness to strangers.