'A Conservative Coup d'Etat'  —  How do our current political struggles look from outside?  Here is a note from a reader in Holland, in response to The Hill's (never corrected) headline about the 51-47 “defeat” of a bill in the Senate:  —  The reader says:

Ann Romney Says Campaign Will ‘Unzip’ the Real Mitt  —  GREEN BAY, Wis. - Ann Romney defended her husband's sense of humor today during a radio interview, explaining that if people think the candidate seems too stiff at times as the host suggested, she thinks “we better unzip him and let the real Mitt Romney out.”

Romney confronted over Mormon doctrines  —  HOWARD, Wis. - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was confronted at a town hall meeting here Monday by a young man who read from the Book of Mormon and asked Romney whether he agreed with his church's one-time belief that interracial marriage was a sin.

Justices Approve Strip-Searches for Any Offense  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday ruled by a 5-to-4 vote that officials may strip-search people arrested for any offense, however minor, before admitting them to jails even if the officials have no reason to suspect the presence of contraband.

The Self-Refuting Expert Witness The Orlando Sentinel Is Touting  —  Back on the Trayvon Martin killing audio expert Tom Owen is getting good press with his claim (broken by the Orlando Sentinel) that it is not George Zimmerman heard screaming for help on a 911 call.  Here are CBS, CNN, MSNBC, Mediaite and the Boston Herald.

7 dead, 3 injured, suspect caught in college shooting  —  Authorities are now confirming that seven people have been killed by a gunman at a private university in Oakland.  —  The gunman opened fire at Oikos University, a Christian school at 7850 Edgewater Road, today at about 10:30 a.m., said Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson.

The right's stealthy coup  —  Right before our eyes, American conservatism is becoming something very different from what it once was.  Yet this transformation is happening by stealth because moderates are too afraid to acknowledge what all their senses tell them.

Md. woman won't share $105M lotto jackpot with McD's co-workers  —  By EVAN SERPICK and WILLIAM FARRINGTON in Baltimore and BOB FREDERICKS in NY  —  Mega Millions mania has plunged a Maryland McDonald's into a bubbling cauldron of controversy hotter than a deep-fried apple pie.

Why Don't Black People Protest ‘Black-on-Black Violence’?  —  Juan Williams offers a meme that we are seeing repeated in response to the widespread protests around Trayvon Martin: … This is an interesting question.  It's also one that Juan Williams, who's been writing about race for almost three decades, should be able to answer.

GSA chief resigns amid reports of excessive spending  —  The chief of the General Services Administration is resigning and two of her top deputies have been fired amid reports of excessive spending at a training conference at a luxury hotel that featured a mindreader, a clown and a comedian.

Feds raid downtown Oaksterdam pot school  —  (04-02) 10:41 PDT Oakland — Federal agents swooped in Monday morning to search Oaksterdam University in Oakland, the state's first cannabis industry training school.  —  Agents with the U.S. Marshals Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration …

Man whose WMD lies led to 100,000 deaths confesses all  —  Defector tells how US officials ‘sexed up’ his fictions to make the case for 2003 invasion  —  NOTE: WE DO NOT STORE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS(ES) BUT YOUR IP ADDRESS WILL BE LOGGED TO PREVENT ABUSE OF THIS FEATURE.  PLEASE READ OUR LEGAL TERMS & POLICIES

National Council Of La Raza And California NAACP Add To Condemnations Of NOM's Race-Baiting Tactics  —  The National Organization for Marriage continues to face fall-out over the confidential strategic memos released last week that reveal its intent to “fan hostilities” …

Shock Poll: Majority would recall Wis. Gov. Walker  —  A new Rasmussen poll finds that Republican Wisconsin Scott Walker is in trouble of being recalled June 5, with a majority, 52 percent, saying they will vote him out less than two years after he took office and immediately went to work to cut the power of public service unions.

ICE arrests more than 3,100 convicted criminal aliens and immigration fugitives in nationwide operation  —  WASHINGTON — As part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) ongoing commitment to prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators …