Quiz: How Dumb Does Obama Think We Are?  —  The Veterans Affairs policy fiasco is magnified by an insulting-public relations strategy.  —  News quiz: President Obama and his communications team hope that Americans are: 1) Dumb; 2) Distracted; 3) Numb to government inefficiency; 4) All of above.

Bush-Appointed Judge Cites Scalia In Axing Pennsylania Gay Marriage Ban  —  Upon striking down Pennsylvania's gay marriage ban Tuesday, a federal judge cited Justice Antonin Scalia's “cogen[t]” argument that the Supreme Court had essentially paved the way for nationwide marriage equality last year.

D'Souza pleads guilty to U.S. campaign finance law violation  —  (Reuters) - The conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a campaign finance law violation, averting a trial that had been expected to begin the same day in Manhattan federal court.

Jeff Zucker talks CNN's post-plane plans  —  Last night, CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker gave a hint of where the network will go next now thats its two-plus-month coverage of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 is subsiding.  —  “I don't think there's any question about our commitment …

Wife, attorney say blogger was pawn  —  It's still unclear how a political blogger gained access to the bedridden wife of U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran in her nursing home, but the man's wife and his attorney said he didn't sneak into the facility, and that he appears to be a pawn in a big political game.

NPR To End ‘Tell Me More,’ Eliminate 28 Positions  —  NPR announced Wednesday that it would cease broadcast of the weekday program Tell Me More on Aug. 1 and eliminate 28 positions as part of a larger effort to end the company's persistent budget deficits.  —  “These times require …

Reid Hints at ‘Nuclear’ Summer Over Debate Time  —  On the morning of his Republican counterpart's primary back home in Kentucky, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he would not change the chamber's rules in his absence.  —  But Minority Leader Mitch McConnell might well be advised …

Comey: FBI ‘Grappling’ With Hiring Policy Concerning Marijuana  —  Monday was a big day for the nation's cyber police.  The Justice Department charged five Chinese military officials with hacking, and brought charges against the creators of powerful hacking software.

Convicted former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.: Presidential pardons for all ex-offenders  —  Former Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., who is serving the end of his federal prison term in a Montgomery federal prison.  —  ctoner@al.com By Casey Toner |  ctoner@al.com

Arthur Sulzberger's First Interview About the Turmoil at The New York Times: “I Would Have Done It Differently”  —  A week after the firing of Jill Abramson as executive editor of The New York Times, the newspaper's publisher, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., sat down with V.F.'s Sarah Ellison for an exclusive interview about the controversy.

Businesses Turn Out Workers' Votes to Stomp Tea Party  —  Photographer: Joe Jaszewski/The Idaho Statesman/AP Photo  —  Ben Tarbutton has never worked so hard in a primary election to urge his company's employees to vote early or educate them on a candidate's record.

Exclusive: Al Qaeda's American Fighters Are Coming Home—And U.S. Intelligence Can't Find Them  —  The number of American extremists who have flocked to Syria is higher than previously understood, American intelligence sources say.  And some of the fighters are coming home.

As Candidate For Congress, Ted Yoho Suggested Limiting The Right To Vote To Property Owners  —  Recently unearthed footage of Rep. Ted Yoho speaking at Berean Baptist Church in Ocala, Florida, during his candidacy for Congress in the 2012 election cycle shows the Republican politician suggesting …

The next big fight over the safety net  —  Word has it that Democrats are set to take a shellacking in the 2014 elections, in part because midterm electorates tends to be older and whiter.  So what if Dems campaigned on expanding Social Security, rather than allowing themselves to get drawn …

No prison time for Indiana man convicted of drugging, raping wife  —  Nation Now  —  The nation's news, events, people and culture

Crying Rape  —  Is there really a rape epidemic?  Probably not.  —  Rape.  Decades ago, women who were raped and reported it, particularly those raped by someone outside their race or social class, were often disbelieved and shamed.  That is tragic.  —  But how far the pendulum has swung in the other direction!

Video: College Students Ace Pop Music Quiz, Bomb Benghazi Question  —  Last week, “Professor” Dan Joseph of MRCTV ventured onto the hallowed grounds of George Mason again to give students their final exam.  Over the course of the semester, these students have struggled miserably with Professor Joseph …

Alaska's climate denial fiasco: Joe Miller's battle to be the state's biggest kook  —  Alaska has long been a home for “colorful” political characters from the time it was a territory.  Back in the 1950s and '60s there was a gentlemen named Fred Stickman, a prodigious writer of letters to the editor …

Kerry: If We're Wrong on Climate Change, 'What's the Worst That Can Happen?'  —  Secretary of State John Kerry did not shy away from pejorative language when addressing “climate change” in his commencement speech at Boston College on Monday.  Kerry referred to those skeptical …

Will Russell Bucklew's Execution Be the Next Death-Penalty Disaster?  —  Missouri plans to kill a convicted murderer Wednesday, but his health and the state's secrecy about lethal-injection procedures raise serious constitutional issues.  —  Aside from the fact that he is likely …