NBC's David Gregory Defends Medicare Question As Newt Gingrich Spokesman Blasts Media ‘Minions’ … NEW YORK — When Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) sits down on “Meet the Press” this Sunday, he can expect to be asked about former House Speaker Newt Gingrich comparing his Medicare voucher plan to “right-wing social engineering.”

GOP elite see Mitch Daniels as 2012 savior  —  Top Republicans are increasingly convinced that President Barack Obama will be easily reelected if stronger GOP contenders do not emerge, and some are virtually begging Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels to add some excitement to the slow-starting nomination race.

BREAKING: Jerome Corsi's Birther Book Pulled from Shelves!  —  In a stunning development one day after the release of Where's the Birth Certificate?  The Case that Barack Obama is not Eligible to be President, by Dr. Jerome Corsi, World Net Daily Editor and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Farah …

White House shuts out Herald scribe  —  The White House Press Office has refused to give the Boston Herald full access to President Obama's Boston fund-raiser today, in e-mails objecting to the newspaper's front page placement of a Mitt Romney op-ed, saying pool reporters are chosen based on whether they cover the news “fairly.”

The Twitter Trap  —  Last week my wife and I told our 13-year-old daughter she could join Facebook.  Within a few hours she had accumulated 171 friends, and I felt a little as if I had passed my child a pipe of crystal meth.  —  I don't mean to be a spoilsport, and I don't think I'm a Luddite.

Thomas defends ideals of court  —  U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas told a packed dinner crowd of Augusta's judges, lawyers and politicians Tuesday that while discourse in American society seems to be growing coarser and angrier, the Supreme Court remains a bastion of respectful disagreement …

Senator questions benefits to ‘adult baby’  —  Coburn sees possible fraud  —  Stanley Thornton Jr., 30, is being fed with a bottle by his roommate, Sandra Dias.  They were featured on National Geographic Channel's “Taboo” program.  Sen. Tom Coburn is questioning their disability payment eligibility.

Democrats' plan for millionaire surtax intended to soften up GOP  —  Senate Democrats are using their proposal to raise taxes on millionaires as a stalking-horse to force Republicans to accept other tax increases.  —  Democratic officials privately acknowledge that raising personal income tax rates …

IMF accuser in apt. for HIV vics  —  Dominique Strauss-Kahn may have more to worry about than a possible prison sentence.  —  The IMF chief's alleged sex-assault victim lives in a Bronx apartment rented exclusively for adults with HIV or AIDS, The Post has learned.

Tanks shell Syrian town, West piles on pressure  —  (Reuters) - Tanks bombarded a Syrian border town for the fourth day on Wednesday in a military campaign to crush protests against President Bashar al-Assad, under mounting Western pressure to stop his violent repression of demonstrators.

Lessons Learned  —  Two notable themes emerge from GOProud: the lack of any actual gay pride in those who run it and the truth about who is still really steering the GOP.  —  There are two things we've learned from GOProud, the small, often obnoxious right-wing gay group that makes the Log Cabin Republicans seem like liberals.

AIPAC: Don't boo Obama  —  A reader forwards over an email from AIPAC President Lee Rosenberg to delegates to the organization's annual policy conference, which will feature President Obama's and Prime Minister Netanyahu's coming speeches to the organization.

McDonald's Under Pressure to Fire Ronald  —  More than 550 health professionals and organizations have signed a letter to McDonald's Corp. asking the maker of Happy Meals to stop marketing junk food to kids and retire Ronald McDonald.  —  The letter, slated to run in the form of full-page ads …