The disturbing glee at Mark Sanford's downfall.  —  Mark Sanford is no longer missing, but he's obviously lost.  The South Carolina governor's press conference was excruciating: apology, followed by self-flagellation, followed by apology.  It was like watching a man light himself on fire.

Obama's Michael Dukakis moment  —  Barack Obama got ABC to move their news division into the White House in order to make the big pitch for his egalitarian, everyone-gets-treated-equally ObamaCare push.  Instead, Obama fumbled into a Michael Dukakis moment that exposed him as a hypocrite.

Supreme Court Says Child's Rights Violated by Strip Search  —  WASHINGTON — In a ruling of interest to educators, parents and students across the country, the Supreme Court ruled, 8 to 1, on Thursday that the strip search of a 13-year-old Arizona girl by school officials who were looking …

MPs ‘snub’ Ahmadinejad party  —  More than 100 MPs appear to have snubbed an invitation to celebrate Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election win, local press reports say.  —  All 290 MPs were invited to the victory party on Wednesday night but 105 did not turn up, the reports say.

The Cap and Tax Fiction  —  Democrats off-loading economics to pass climate change bill.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has put cap-and-trade legislation on a forced march through the House, and the bill may get a full vote as early as Friday.

Bad taste award  —  I don't find anything funny about the Sanford affair.  It's the mom in me thinking about four handsome boys on Father's Day weekend abandoned by their stupid, selfish father, who was busy tanning with his mistress in Argentina.  Heart-breaking.  Yes.  Nauseating.  Yes.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi slams Iran's leaders  —  Mousavi speaks out after days of quiet, blasting the nation's supreme leader and state-controlled media.  He promises to continue his campaign to have Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's reelection annulled.  —  Reporting from Tehran — After days of relative quiet …

Stunning pictures of the volcano that blew a hole in the sky as astronauts witness eruption from International Space Station  —  Framed by a circle of clouds, this is a stunning illustration of Nature's powerful force.  —  A plume of smoke, ash and steam soars five miles into the sky from an erupting volcano.

Palin blasts Alaska blogger over Trig photo  —  Sarah Palin is again responding forcefully to a perceived attack on one of her children, this time attacking an Alaska blogger who edited a picture of her and her baby son, Trig, to replace Trig's face with the image of a conservative Alaska talk show host, Eddie Burke.

Emanuel: Sanford needed a cigarette  —  Perhaps no one knows how to butter up reporters better than White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.  —  The longtime Washington insider is known for personally reaching out to reporters and always being cognizant of the media landscape.

Fox News set for best year yet  —  Viewership solid as rivals take post-election hits  —  Fox News is on track to have its most-watched year ever, showing significant ratings growth despite having just come off a highflying election year.  —  With the second quarter coming to a close …

Bush administration leaks bolstered Rick Renzi's reelection bid  —  In the fall of 2006, one day after the Justice Department granted permission to a U.S. attorney to place a wiretap on a Republican congressman suspected of corruption, existence of the investigation was leaked to the press …

RALPH REED?.... Wait a second.  Ralph Reed believes he can show his face in public again?  He thinks he has the credibility to once again be a political player? … Now, as a substantive matter, the idea of yet another religious right group seems pretty silly.