Barack Obama's early VA response: Executive inaction  —  President Barack Obama wants to talk about flexing his administrative and executive power to do more.  Instead, he got stuck talking about a clear administrative and executive failure that, at least so far, he hasn't done much about.

Morning Plum: Obama slams ‘false equivalence’ media  —  At a fundraiser last night, President Obama unleashed a surprisingly spirited and comprehensive attack on both-sides-to-blame media coverage.  While he has taken issue with Beltway coverage before, what was particularly noteworthy …

Scarborough: I've Never Heard Anyone Object To Obamacare Over Race (VIDEO)  —  Joe Scarborough said Friday that he doesn't understand what evidence Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has to back up his claim that opposition to President Barack Obama's signature health care law is driven by his race.

Mark Cuban discusses his own prejudices in startling terms  —  It turns out, regarding race-related views among NBA owners, Donald Sterling may have company.  —  Less than a month after Sterling rocked the sports world with racist remarks, Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has openly acknowledged his own prejudices.

The Hard Sell on Climate Change  —  Jeff Zucker, the president of CNN, was very forthright about his media priorities at a Society of Professional Journalists dinner in New York City on Monday.  —  He told Bill Carter of the New York Times: “Climate change is one of those stories that deserves more attention, that we all talk about.

A Surveillance Bill That Falls Short  —  A year ago, it would have been unimaginable for the House to pass a bill to curtail the government's abusive surveillance practices.  The documents leaked by Edward Snowden, however, finally shocked lawmakers from both parties into action …

Tennessee brings back electric chair  —  Editor's note: CNN's original series “Death Row Stories” explores America's capital punishment system at 9 p.m. ET/PT Sundays, beginning July 13.  Join the conversation about the death penalty at facebook.com/cnn or Twitter @CNNorigSeries using #DeathRowStories.

Did a Pennsylvania Republican Lose Because He's Openly Gay?  —  Mike Fleck ran unopposed three times, but appears to have been beaten by a write-in candidate after coming out in 2012.  —  Pennsylvania may have become the 19th state to allow same-sex couples to marry Tuesday but did it also vote …

They Had a Dream  —  Rule by experts comes a cropper  —  They had a dream.  For almost a hundred years now, the famed academic-artistic-and-punditry industrial complex has dreamed of a government run by their kind of people (i.e., nature's noblemen), whose intelligence, wit, and refined sensibilities would bring us a heaven on earth.

The One Thing Each Party Needs to Overcome by 2016  —  So far, neither side has made much progress toward solving its lingering challenge.  —  Each party emerged from the 2012 presidential election facing one key electoral challenge before the next contest in 2016.

IRS Will Revise Proposal on Political Nonprofit Groups  —  The U.S. Internal Revenue Service said today that it will revise proposed rules governing nonprofit groups' involvement in politics.  —  The rules, released last year, were an attempt to provide guidance for how much political …

Alarmist Paul Ehrlich Predicts Need to ‘Eat the Bodies of Your Dead’  —  The zombie apocalypse is nigh!  The zombie apocalypse is nigh!  —  Well, no it isn't.  In fact, it's probably as likely to occur as the rest of Paul Ehrlich's predictions.  —  Ehrlich, a Stanford University biologist famous …

How right-wingers are amping up their war on science  —  From climate change to reproduction, Republicans are increasingly deciding “science” is whatever they say it is  —  No longer content just to claim to be “skeptical” of scientific findings they find disagreeable …

Ralph Nader and Grover Norquist: Washington's Most Unlikely Bromance  —  If even these political opposites can agree on a few things, is there possibly hope that Washington can still align to get things done?  —  When you think of the funniest personalities in Washington, Ralph Nader doesn't spring to mind.

MS Tea Party vice chairman arrested in Cochran case  —  UPDATED: Madison city court officials say that Mark Mayfield will appear before a judge today.  —  Also, attorney Kevin Camp, who represents Clayton Kelly, said two more arrests either have been or will be made in addition to Mayfield.