Hunch leads to airport and tired, troubled Sanford  —  It was about 6:15 a.m. Wednesday as I stood in the waiting area at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, squinting my eyes to see whether Gov. Mark Sanford was part of a crowd exiting the plane from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

Palin hits back at ‘malicious’ photo  —  (CNN) - A week after a high-profile uproar with comedian David Letterman over the late-night host's joke about her daughter, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is again sharply responding to the appearance of her children in the public sphere.

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.

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.

Dems see agenda slipping  —  There is a growing sense among Democrats that they will not be able to accomplish the entire agenda leaders set for 2009, pushing major policy debates into the midterm election year.  —  Concerns over the cost of overhauling the nation's healthcare system have served as a wake-up call to lawmakers.

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.

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 …

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 …

‘NOT EXPECTED TO RECUPERATE’  —  FOR THE RECORD CRONKITE FAMILY UPSET ABOUT CONFLICTING REPORTS  —  WALTER Cronkite, legend ary newsman and recipi ent of countless reporting awards, is, ironically enough, now suffering himself from an assault of bad reporting.

Farrah Fawcett Dies of Cancer at 62  —  Farrah Fawcett, who skyrocketed to fame as one of a trio of impossibly glamorous private eyes on TV's Charlie's Angels, has died after a long battle with cancer.  She was 62.  —  Fawcett died at 9:28 a.m. PST on Thursday at St. John's Heath Center in Santa Monica …

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 …