Who's that man?:  Obama asked for ID at gym  —  Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) may have one of the best-known faces in the world, but that doesn't mean he is recognized everywhere, even in Washington.  —  Washington Sports Club employee Takehia Wheeler was manning the front desk …

You'll have bad times.  And he'll have good times.  —  This Unity, New Hampshire, event was the ultimate in political mortification for Hillary Clinton.  —  I may be crazy.  But Bill Clinton is not going to let himself be humiliated.  He's in talks with McCain before long if he's not already.

The Future of Gun Control  —  The U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 decision overturning Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban is the biggest gun rights ruling since the Second Amendment was ratified in 1791.  The Court had not waded into this divisive issue since 1939, when it declared …

A Candidate Runs to a G.O.P. Chorus of 'Don't'  —  Bob Barr, a Republican turned Libertarian, hopes to follow in the third-party footsteps of Ross Perot and Ralph Nader.

Scientist Is Paid Millions by U.S. in Anthrax Suit  —  WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced Friday that it would pay $4.6 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Steven J. Hatfill, a former Army biodefense researcher intensively investigated as a “person of interest” in the deadly anthrax letters of 2001.

Grim proving ground for Obama's housing policy  —  The candidate endorsed subsidies for private entrepreneurs to build low-income units.  But, while he garnered support from developers, many projects in his former district have fallen into disrepair.  —  CHICAGO - The squat brick buildings …

This Recession, It's Just Beginning  —  So much for that second-half rebound.  —  Truth be told, that was always more of a wish than a serious forecast, happy talk from the Fed and Wall Street desperate to get things back to normal.  —  It ain't gonna happen.  Not this summer.  Not this fall.

The Daily Bric-A-Brac  —  The Federal Marriage Amendment is reintroduced with David Vitter and Larry Craig as cosponsors.  —  Yes, David Plouffe's office in Chicago is really spare:  —  Obama, to Ed Gordon: ""At the beginning I wasn't black enough, now folks were saying I was too black at one point.

U.S. and Europe Near Agreement on Private Data  —  WASHINGTON — The United States and the European Union are nearing completion of an agreement allowing law enforcement and security agencies to obtain private information — like credit card transactions, travel histories and Internet browsing habits …

THE FACE OF EVIL  —  In Pakistan today, just across the border from Afghanistan, Taliban goons got their hands on two Afghans who they claimed had collaborated in a Predator strike on a Taliban house across the border in Pakistan.  It isn't clear from this news account whether the Taliban kidnapped the victims from Afghanistan.

Obama Hires New Religious Affairs Adviser  —  Shaun Casey, who teaches religion and politics at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., has been hired by the Obama campaign to focus on outreach to evangelical voters.  —  Casey, who has been informally advising the Obama campaign …

Scalia and women's rights: A handgun “is easier to use for those without the upper-body strength to lift and aim a long gun.”  —  In District of Columbia v. Heller, yesterday's Second Amendment decision, Justice Scalia responded to the argument that “it is permissible to ban the possession …