Conservatives gear up for high court fight  —  Phone lines around Washington began burning this morning as conservative organizations kicked off preparations for the fight over President Obama's eventual Supreme Court nominee.  —  Associate Justice David Souter's decision to step down at the end …

The Use of Torture and What Nancy Pelosi Knew  —  Torture is an impermissible evil.  Except under two circumstances.  The first is the ticking time bomb.  An innocent's life is at stake.  The bad guy you have captured possesses information that could save this life.  He refuses to divulge.

Saying No to Justice  —  I did something today that I've never done before.  The Department of Justice, which I proudly served for a quarter century as an assistant U.S. attorney and a deputy U.S. marshal, asked me for help, and I declined.  Actually, what I declined to do was attend a meeting.

First Lady Michelle Obama steps out in Lanvin sneakers and they're only $540!  —  Michelle Obama has taken casual to a haute new level.  —  While volunteering Wednesday at a D.C. food bank, the First Lady sported her usual J.Crew cardigan, a pair of utilitarian capri pants and, on her feet, a sneaky splurge: trainers that go for $540.

Case against ex-AIPAC staffers dropped  —  WASHINGTON (JTA) — A source with intimate knowledge of the case against two ex-AIPAC staffers accused of passing along classified information says the case has been dropped.  —  Keith Weissman, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's former Iran analyst …

Chrysler Lenders Tried Obama's Patience, Lost Game of Chicken  —  President Barack Obama thanked everyone from unions to executives for working to keep Chrysler LLC alive while blaming “a small group of speculators” for forcing the automaker into bankruptcy.

Biden kicked out of country after flu remarks?  —  Things have gotten so bad for the vice president following his disastrous Today Show appearance that he's been exiled?  —  No. It's just coincidental that the day after he strayed way off message on how to deal with the flu virus …

Jon Stewart: Hey, sorry for calling Harry Truman a war criminal  —  A follow-up to Wednesday night's Kinsleyan gaffe: He's sorry, he's just not sure why he's sorry.  The closest we get to an explanation is that the decision to drop the bomb was “complicated,” but of course that's why Cliff …

PATERSON BURNED BY A RACIAL ‘FIRE’  —  300G SETTLES SUIT BY WHITE FOTOG  —  ALBANY — Gov. Paterson, who raised state taxes by $8 billion last month, just cost state taxpayers $300,000 more.  —  The state has secretly settled an embarrassing federal racial-discrimination lawsuit, The Post has learned.

Knowing a Good Man When You See One  —  The Dalai Lama has been visiting the Boston area, and I'd like to mention a few reports.  First, a note from an NRO reader: Hi, Jay, I had the great opportunity to see the Dalai Lama speak at MIT this afternoon.  When he opened the forum to audience Q&A …

Mark Penn: No Edwards Could Have Meant ‘Different Outcome’  —  ABC News' Kate Snow and Rick Klein report: What if John Edwards hadn't run for president in 2008?  —  What if he had followed the hindsight-is-20-20 advice being offered now by his wife and chief strategist …

‘Secret’ CIA document on White House Flickr feed  —  A photograph posted by the White House to the photo sharing website Flickr includes an image of a document with the letters CIA printed beneath what appears to be the word “secret.”  —  The photograph by White House photographer Pete Souza …

Genius: The Modern View  —  Some people live in romantic ages.  They tend to believe that genius is the product of a divine spark.  They believe that there have been, throughout the ages, certain paragons of greatness — Dante, Mozart, Einstein — whose talents far exceeded normal comprehension …

WhiteHouse 2.0  —  In the President's last Weekly Address, he called on government to “recognize that we cannot meet the challenges of today with old habits and stale thinking.”  He added that “we need to reform our government so that it is more efficient, more transparent, and more creative …

Why Lindsey Graham is the Guy Obama Needs to Please in Replacing Souter  —  Both sides of the aisle spent all week lamenting/celebrating Arlen Specter's party switch and the potential for a 60 vote Democratic majority in the Senate.  But Specter's swap leaves the Senate Judiciary Committee without its most prominent GOP moderate.

Gingrich insult rankles RNC members  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Several members of the Republican National Committee are miffed at Newt Gingrich for claiming that they're a small bunch of egomaniacs who need to be coddled by the party chairman.  —  “Newt needs to take a breath,” New Jersey committeeman David Norcross told CNN.