The West Wing, Season II  —  Almost overnight, Barack Obama overhauled his White House and rewrote much of the script.  Now all he needs is a happy ending.  —  David Axelrod awoke at three in the morning and checked his BlackBerry.  It was January 12, a few hours before Barack Obama …

Secret papers reveal slow death of Middle East peace process  —  • Massive new leak lifts lid on negotiations  —  • PLO offered up key settlements in East Jerusalem  —  • Concessions made on refugees and Holy sites  —  The biggest leak of confidential documents in the history …

The Competition Myth  —  Meet the new buzzword, same as the old buzzword.  In advance of the State of the Union, President Obama has telegraphed his main theme: competitiveness.  The President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board has been renamed the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

'America's lifeguard'  —  I had the privilege of coming of age during the era of Ronald Reagan.  I like to think of him as America's lifeguard.  As a teenager, Ronald Reagan saved 77 lives as a lifeguard on the Rock River, which ran through his hometown of Dixon, Ill. The day he was inaugurated in 1981 …

Statement of Events: Bradley Manning's Primary Visitor Detained at Quantico  —  At roughly 1:00 pm, upon driving onto the base at Quantico, David House and blogger Jane Hamsher were detained by military guards.  House, who is on the Quantico Brig's visitation list, has been visiting Bradley Manning in confinement since last September.

Scalia set to speak to Tea Party Caucus on Capitol Hill  —  Washington (CNN) — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is scheduled to speak Monday in a closed-door meeting with the Tea Party Caucus — an informal group of conservative lawmakers.  —  The conservative justice is a popular speaker …

George Allen to announce Senate bid Monday  —  Former Sen. George Allen will end weeks of speculation and formally declare his candidacy for U.S. Senate in Virginia on Monday, two Republican advisers tell POLITICO.  —  Allen, who has been making all the moves of a candidate in recent weeks …

The World from The Hill: U.N. funding an early target for House Republicans  —  A key House Republican is quickly pressing forward with her goals to scale back U.S. funding for the United Nations.  —  Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee …

Interviewing Thomas Sowell On Basic Economics  —  Interviewing Thomas Sowell On Basic Economics  —  Late last year, I wrote a column for Townhall called, 10 Life Changing Books To Give This Christmas.  One of those book was Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics 4th Ed: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy.

‘ACORN’ is reborn in B'klyn  —  Watch out!  ACORN is back — in all but its name.  —  Backed by hundreds of thousands of dollars in union donations, New York Communities for Change — a rebranded version of the controversial organization that closed up shop amid several scandals …

Jack LaLanne, Founder of Modern Fitness Movement, Dies at 96  —  Jack LaLanne, whose obsession with grueling workouts and good nutrition, complemented by a salesman's gift, brought him recognition as the founder of the modern physical fitness movement, died Sunday afternoon at his home in Morro Bay, Calif. He was 96.

Sarah Palin and the Battle for Feminism  —  When Sarah Palin took the podium in St. Paul to accept her nomination for the vice presidency in September 2008, calm and collected feminists might have recalled the old saw: Be careful what you wish for.  Here she was, an ambitious political woman …

Mortgage Giants Leave Legal Bills to the Taxpayers  —  Since the government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taxpayers have spent more than $160 million defending the mortgage finance companies and their former top executives in civil lawsuits accusing them of fraud.

Global Price Fears Mount  —  As Food, Raw Materials Soar, Europe's Central Bank Head Warns on Inflation  —  Inflation fears—fueled by spiraling food, oil and raw material prices—are mounting around the globe, prompting the head of the European Central Bank to signal that it could raise interest rates …