Live - 2016 Olympics decision day  —  (Not all contributions can be used; UK mobiles only; network rates apply)  —  1635: We have a winner, people.  No need for IOC president Jacque Rogge to use his vote and that means everyone - well, everyone except the Madrid and Rio delegates of course - can relax.

The Wizard of Beck  —  Let us take a trip back into history.  Not ancient history.  Recent history.  It is the winter of 2007.  The presidential primaries are approaching.  The talk jocks like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and the rest are over the moon about Fred Thompson.

David Letterman reveals $2M extortion plot; CBS News producer busted in scheme to reveal sex secrets  —  A top CBS News producer was busted Thursday for trying to shake down David Letterman - threatening to expose the late-night funnyman's affairs with several female staffers in a movie and book.

Mission Not Accomplished  —  Stocks are up.  Ben Bernanke says that the recession is over.  And I sense a growing willingness among movers and shakers to declare “Mission Accomplished” when it comes to fighting the slump.  It's time, I keep hearing, to shift our focus from economic stimulus to the budget deficit.

Is Conservatism Brain-Dead?  —  Over his decades as a columnist, lecturer, TV host and debater, William F. Buckley Jr. lost his cool in public only once — when he threatened to sock Gore Vidal “in your goddamn face” on the third night of their joint appearances on ABC during the ill-fated 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

White House Considers Narrower War Effort in Afghanistan  —  Top Officials Challenge General's Assessment  —  Senior White House officials have begun to make the case for a policy shift in Afghanistan that would send few, if any, new combat troops to the country and instead focus …

The Vapor Bill - Congress' Secret Plan to Pass Obamacare - Update  —  President Barack Obama's push for a sweeping health care overhaul edged closer to a major victory in the Senate Finance Committee.  Early next week, the Senate Finance Committee will vote on final passage on the “Vapor Bill” being debated and marked up in Committee.

Washington Sketch  —  Helen Thomas is 89 years old and requires some assistance to get to and from the daily White House briefing.  Yet her backbone has proved stronger than that of the president she covers.  —  On Thursday afternoon, Thomas gave a clinic in fortitude to President Obama's spokesman, Robert Gibbs, during the briefing.

Kerry blocks DeMint trip to Honduras  —  Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has blocked Sen. Jim DeMint's (R-S.C.) trip to Honduras slated to begin Friday, according to DeMint's office.  —  DeMint's office informed The Hill of Kerry's decision Thursday afternoon.

FIRST THOUGHTS: POWER OF PRESIDENCY  —  From Chuck Todd, Domenico Montanaro, Ali Weinberg and Kelly Paice  —  *** Power Of The Presidency: Two moments that have already taken place, only serve to underscore the power of the office.  While most of America slept, the president was in Copenhagen making …

Politics as religion in America  —  Conservatism has been converted into a religious belief, and now compromise doesn't have a prayer.  —  For decades now, liberals have been agonizing because conservatives seem to win even when polls show that the public generally disagrees with them.