Sarah Palin's Unlikely Supporter  —  ABC News' Sheila Marikar (@SheilaYM) reports from Pella, Iowa:  —  There's the stereotype of the Sarah Palin supporter, and then there's Sonnie Johnson.  —  The 30-year-old African-American mother and wife is featured in “The Undefeated” …

Obama Gay Marriage Stance a Nod to 2012 Battlegrounds  —  Gay pride month celebrations hit the White House today as President Obama welcomes some of his gay and lesbian supporters and renews his commitment to helping them “win the future.”  —  But don't expect the president to flash …

No holiday recess this week  —  President Barack Obama won't be able to make any recess appointments next week because GOP maneuvering has blocked the Senate from adjourning over the Fourth of July break.  —  Under the Constitution, each house of Congress must approve of the other adjourning for more than three days at a time.

Bombers attack luxury hotel in Kabul  —  Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) — A group of people using bombs and small arms attacked the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul Tuesday, and fighting was ongoing with Afghan security forces, Chief of Criminal Investigation Mohammed Zahir told CNN.

Christie Loses Support for Second Term as Residents Oppose Cuts  —  More than half of New Jersey residents say they wouldn't back Governor Chris Christie for a second term, disapproving of his choices on a range of policy and personal issues, from killing a commuter tunnel to using …

Surprise: HHS drops plan to snoop on doctors  —  A follow-up to Ed's post from yesterday.  No worries: The program's not really dead, it's just ... resting.  It'll be back in a few years, once ObamaCare goes into effect and millions more Boomers have landed on the Medicare rolls.

BofA Nears Huge Settlement  —  $8.5 Billion Payment to Investors in Mortgage Securities Would Be Biggest Yet  —  Bank of America Corp. is close to an agreement to pay $8.5 billion to settle claims by a group of high-profile investors who lost money on mortgage-backed securities purchased …

Ethics watchdog calls for FBI to investigate Rep. Richardson  —  Allegations of ethics violations within the office of Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.) are worthy of a criminal investigation, a leading ethics watchdog group charged Tuesday.  —  Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics …

Kucinich has language problem in Syria  —  Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) gave a press conference in Syria this week and appeared to heap praise upon Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is being widely criticized for the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in that country.

Should Justices Keep Their Opinions to Themselves?  —  ARE there really only nine Supreme Court justices?  —  It seems that everywhere you look, you see one popping up: giving speeches, signing books, leading workshops, posing for pictures at charity functions.

The joke of ‘secure Britain’: Vile banned militant extremist strolls through Heathrow immigration as 200 Somalian criminals are allowed to stay due to human rights  — European Court ruling stems from appeals by two asylum seekers convicted of offences including burglary, making threats to kill and drug dealing

It's So Obvious  —  Believe it or not, Jason is the smartest of the trio.  —  My career in developing large scale systems that allow people to express themselves and communicate started in 1999 with Xanga.  I left after a couple years and got more academic about the democratization of information on the web.

Americans Broadly Favor Obama's Afghanistan Pullout Plan  —  Fewer than half agree with specific troop reduction goals  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans broadly support President Barack Obama's plan to begin withdrawing U.S. forces in Afghanistan this year, with additional troops scheduled …

Catholic New Yorkers Approve Of Cuomo 3-1, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Cuomo Tops Other Governors, Over Christie By 20 Points  —  New York State voters approve 64 - 19 percent of the job Gov. Andrew Cuomo is doing, 20 points better than New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie and leading governors …

Price of U.S. wars: $4.4 trillion?  —  The final bill for U.S. military involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan could be as high as $4.4 trillion, according to a comprehensive new report Tuesday.  —  In the 10 years since American troops were sent into Afghanistan …

Tearful Glenn Beck Describes How He And His Family Were Attacked In New York Park  —  “These people were some of the most hateful people I have ever seen,” said a distraught Glenn Beck this morning as he described an altercation he and his family had last night while watching a screening …

Bachmann plays Petty tune again  —  MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.—Maybe Tom Petty's cease-and-desist letter hasn't arrived yet.  —  The singer was reportedly nonplussed that Michele Bachmann played his “American Girl” classic when she officially kicked off her presidential campaign in Iowa Monday.

Two thousand years in one chart  —  An alternative timeline for the past two millennia  —  SOME people recite history from above, recording the grand deeds of great men.  Others tell history from below, arguing that one person's life is just as much a part of mankind's story as another's.

Tea Party Finds Power Leads to Policy Splits  —  HARRISBURG, Pa. — When Tea Party groups celebrated their victories here in November — they had helped take the governor's office and the legislature — it seemed that one of their priorities, school choice legislation, would have an easy time passing.

How the demise of a trusted adviser could bring down Mahmoud Ahmadinejad  —  Iran's President has survived mass uprisings, but a corruption row engulfing his inner circle may soon be his undoing.  Robert Fisk reports from Tehran  —  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's irascible …

BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL  —  Mainstream media covers up horrifying Obama mistake  —  No one in mainstream media seems inclined to mention Barack Obama's horrifying mistake last Thursday when, speaking at Fort Drum, he said that SFC Jared Monti was “the first person who I was able to award …

Obama's lunch stop includes ‘mountains’ of greasy food  —  President Obama made a lunchtime pit stop during his Iowa trip Tuesday.  —  Obama's motorcade made an unannounced visit to Ross' Restaurant in Bettendorf, Iowa, one of the quad cities on the border of Illinois and Iowa.