Obama Lays Siege to His Critics  —  At West Point, President Obama defends a foreign policy vision based on more than U.S. military might.  —  President Obama's speech at West Point on Wednesday morning could be called a tribute to common sense, except that the sense it made is so uncommon.

VA investigators: Delayed care is everywhere  —  Delaying medical care to veterans and manipulating records to hide those delays is “systemic throughout” the Department of Veterans Affairs health system, the VA's Office of Inspector General said in a preliminary report Wednesday.

R.I.P., Maya Angelou, Proud Gun Owner and User  —  Poet, author and personality Maya Angelou has died at the age of 86.  Angelou was found dead this morning at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C. No cause of death has been announced.  —  Angelou gained literary fame with her 1969 literary memoir …

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John Boehner's friends plot tea party crackdown  —  They've given John Boehner constant headaches during his three years as speaker.  —  Now, Boehner's friends are trying to make sure that a small pocket of tea-party-aligned Republicans won't have a chance to derail his speakership next year.

Michelle Obama on Attempts to Roll Back Healthy Reforms  —  WHEN we began our Let's Move! initiative four years ago, we set one simple but ambitious goal: to end the epidemic of childhood obesity in a generation so that kids born today will grow up healthy.  —  To achieve this goal, we have adhered to one clear standard: what works.

Hillary Clinton allies mobilize on Benghazi  —  A broad array of Democrats — including Hillary Clinton's allies — are meeting this week to hammer out a united front on national security issues, including a clear response to Republicans over the Benghazi controversy.

Cheney: Obama ‘weakest’ president of my lifetime  —  Former Vice President Dick Cheney blasted President Obama as the weakest president of his lifetime on Wednesday, following the president's speech defending his foreign policy approach at the West Point commencement ceremony.

The Ten Most Asinine Things About #YesAllWomen  —  Four men and two women were killed by a clearly disturbed individual whose deranged and evil rants indicated he hated humanity in general and women in particular.  University of California at Santa Barbara students Cheng Yuan Hong, George Chen …

Christie: ‘I am much smaller now’  —  (CNN) - Gov. Chris Christie is getting some compliments about his shrinking waist line.  —  After filing a complaint with Christie at a town hall Wednesday in Ocean County, New Jersey, one woman told the Republican governor he looks a lot “smaller.”

Navy official: Pings not thought to be from Flight 370's black boxes  —  (CNN) — The four acoustic pings at the center of the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 for the past seven weeks are no longer believed to have come from the plane's black boxes, a U.S. Navy official told CNN.

Mayor of Chicago Seeks to Further Tighten Gun Laws  —  CHICAGO — Mayor Rahm Emanuel outlined a plan on Wednesday to make Chicago's gun laws, already some of the strictest in the country, even tougher.  —  Calling gun violence Chicago's “most urgent problem,” Mr. Emanuel …

Orrin Hatch: Gay marriage inevitable  —  SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch says it's obvious that gay marriage will become legal across the country sooner or later.  —  Hatch said people who can't see what's happening aren't living in the real world.  He made the remarks Wednesday on KSL-Radio's Doug Wright Show.

Scientists: Florida's congressional map is ‘partisan gerrymander’  —  TALLAHASSEE — The coalition of groups trying to prove Florida's congressional map was intentionally gerrymandered to help Republicans turned to experts Tuesday who testified it was “virtually impossible” to have drawn the maps without political bias.