Kathleen Parker and Eliot Spitzer, CNN's duo of civil dispute  —  They are, somewhat self-consciously, an odd couple, the Northern pol and the Southern belle, the prosecutor and the journalist, the man trying to recover from disgrace and the woman graciously forgiving his sins.

How the Roberts Court disguises its conservatism.  —  It's dark and silent.  Reporters trickle into the grand ceremonial room from a door on the left; like everyone, they've been instructed that no recording devices of any sort are allowed.  A clutch of spectators, some of whom have been waiting for hours, enters at the rear.