The Misplaced Loyalties and Dubious Code of Chris Matthews  —  The MSNBC host attacked Cory Booker for breaking with the Democratic Party line.  As a journalist, he ought to celebrate truth-telling.  —  When the average television viewer sees someone on a public-affairs show making arguments …

EXCLUSIVE: THE VETTING - DID OBAMA HAVE LOWER SAT SCORES THAN GEORGE W. BUSH?  —  President Barack Obama is hailed by his supporters and the mainstream media as one of the most brilliant men ever to hold the office.  However, his refusal to release his academic records …

How Change Happens  —  Forty years ago, corporate America was bloated, sluggish and losing ground to competitors in Japan and beyond.  But then something astonishing happened.  Financiers, private equity firms and bare-knuckled corporate executives initiated a series of reforms and transformations.

Obama spending binge never happened  —  Commentary: Government outlays rising at slowest pace since 1950s … WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Of all the falsehoods told about President Barack Obama, the biggest whopper is the one about his reckless spending spree.

NBC/WSJ poll: Obama's gay-marriage announcement a ‘draw’  —  Two weeks after President Obama announced he supports gay marriage, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows that his announcement — politically — looks to be a wash.  —  In the poll, a combined 17 percent says it makes them …

THIS JUST IN  —  A video posted online that shows a former union leader in South Carolina smashing a piñata effigy of Gov. Nikki Haley has riled the national office of the AFL-CIO, which wants it taken down.  —  “Do you think we can get this video pulled,” asked a national AFL-CIO official …

New Republican Ad Takes a Soft Shot at Obama  —  WASHINGTON — The ad is the work of two of the most fearsome players in Republican politics: Larry McCarthy, the producer behind the infamous Willie Horton commercial in 1988, and Crossroads GPS, the political battle squad founded by Karl Rove.

Americans, Including Catholics, Say Birth Control Is Morally OK  —  Birth control has the broadest acceptance among 18 behaviors  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Eighty-two percent of U.S. Catholics say birth control is morally acceptable, nearing the 89% of all Americans and 90% of non-Catholics who agree.

General Colin Powell, who served as secretary of state under President George W. Bush, talks to TODAY's Matt Lauer about politics, war and his new book, “It Worked for Me.”  —  Though he believes President Obama has had several significant achievements during his first term …

Coming soon: Bristol Palin's reality show  —  Bristol Palin's reality show premieres next month, Lifetime announced in a press release on Tuesday:

Black Leaders Decry NAACP Endorsement of Homosexual Agenda  —  Alveda C. King is among the growing number of African-American leaders speaking out about President Obama's endorsement of same-sex marriage.  —  Specifically, the niece of Martin Luther King Jr. is joining black spiritual leaders …

Internal Democratic polling shows dead heat in Wisconsin recall  —  Gov. Scott Walker (R) is not safe in next month's recall election, Wisconsin Democrats say.  —  Walker has been pulling ahead of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) in polls on the June 5 recall election sparked by the governor's collective bargaining reforms.

40% Now Say Trayvon Martin Shot in Self-Defense; 24% Say It Was Murder  —  As evidence continues to emerge from the shooting death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, Americans are becoming more convinced that his killer acted in self-defense and that the legal system will come to that conclusion.

Ann Romney and dressage: A pricey private world  —  Testimony in a lawsuit — from which she was eventually dropped — reveals the would-be first lady's passionate engagement in dressage, a sport she believes helps her deal with multiple sclerosis.  —  Ann Romney is a partner in the Acres …

That's my favorite kind of headline, because all I have to do is present the relevant facts.  This is hardly the first time “CNN” and “dog poop” have been used in the same sentence, but this time it's literal.  —  CBS Atlanta: … But it gets even better, as David Stein discovered:

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Black Mormons and the Politics of Identity  —  SALT LAKE CITY — When Marguerite Driessen, a professor here, entered Brigham Young University in the early 1980s, she was the first black person many Mormon students had ever met, and she spent a good bit of her college time debunking stereotypes about African-Americans.

Ode to My Best Friend — Mary Richardson Kennedy  —  I met Mary on her first day at Putney, we were 15.  The next weekend we hitch hiked to Boston to see my siblings Michael, Bobby, David, Courtney and Kathleen, and for the rest of her life, she spent nearly every weekend and vacation with our family.

Senate Dems back increase in air travel fee to close funding shortfall at TSA  —  The Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday moved forward with legislation to increase airline passenger security fees, beating back a GOP attempt to keep them at current levels.

Don't worry, Joe: It ain't so.  Why Obama won't run with Hillary Clinton.  —  Not even if you see an airborne swine.  Not even if they're driving a Zamboni in Hades.  —  When you read a rumination—or recommendation, or prediction—that President Barack Obama will replace Vice President Joe Biden …