Michael Jackson Dies  —  We've just learned Michael Jackson has died.  He was 50.  —  Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon and paramedics were unable to revive him.  We're told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back.

Exclusive: Sanford booked 10-day getaway  —  On or around the day his wife asked him to move out, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford booked a ten-day trip to Buenos Aires, a person familiar with the governor's travel plans told POLITICO.  —  Sanford booked the trip on Delta Air Lines on June 10 …

Obey, Waters in noisy floor fight  —  Two Democrats got into a verbal altercation — and according to one a physical one — on the floor of the House on Thursday night over an appropriations earmark one was seeking.  —  After the House floor had largely cleared following a series of votes …

Kerry Pushes For Public Option Trigger In Closed-Door Meeting  —  In a closed-door meeting of Senate Finance Committee Democratic members and their staff Wednesday evening, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) suggested that if the committee bill didn't have enough votes for a public option it include …

The Not-so-beautiful Game  —  Yesterday, in what might be one of most stunning upsets ever, the U.S. men's soccer team beat Spain 2-0.  In doing so, the U.S. team beat the top-ranked national team in the world, ended Spain's record-setting unbeaten streak of 35 games, and put the Americans …

Limbaugh to GOP: ‘Screw it’  —  Defying parody once again, Rush Limbaugh lays the Sanford affair at President Obama's feet: … I guess this means we can look forward to a lot more GOP sex scandals...  (via TPM; full audio here)  —Christopher Orr

ABC's White House special struggled for viewers  —  President Obama's town hall meeting on health care delivered a sickly rating Wednesday evening.  —  The one-hour ABC News special “Primetime: Questions for the President: Prescription for America” (4.7 million viewers …

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 …

Final moments  —  Neda was standing a metre away from me... I saw blood gushing out of her chest"  —  The doctor who tried to save an Iranian protester as she bled to death on a street in Tehran has told the BBC of her final moments.  —  Dr Arash Hejazi, who is studying at a university …

Obama at West Wing door to reporters heading to dunk tank with Gibbs.  “They won't let me take a shot.”  —  Sweet pitching at Dunk Booth with Robert Gibbs on the South Lawn of the White House on luau night, June 25, 2009 (Photos by David Corn)  —  WASHINGTON—As reporters were escorted …

Cap and Trade to Limp Across Finish Line?  —  It looks that way, in the House, anyway.  With a vote scheduled to take place tomorrow, Nancy Pelosi thinks she has barely enough votes to pass one of the great follies in legislative history, the carbon tax.  It will be close, though …

Bachmann's Latest Irrational Fear About The Census: It Was Used To Intern The Japanese  —  Last week, Rep. Michele “I'm not a kook” Bachmann (R-MN) boasted about breaking the law in refusing to complete the 2010 Census.  The Census is the perfect boogeyman for Bachmann in that it unites …