George Takei: Justice Thomas ‘a clown in blackface’  —  Actor and gay rights advocate George Takei is slamming Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas after his dissent to last week's decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide claimed that the government can neither give nor take away human dignity.

HILLARY'S OMNIPRESENT HUMA emerges as own power center - DEMS WANT BILL to rai$e for HRC super PAC; fears she'll lag Jeb - PERRY speech courts African Americans - RAND banks on Nev.  —  By Mike Allen (@mikeallen; mallen@politico.com), and Daniel Lippman (@dlippman; dlippman@politico.com)

Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb announces candidacy for 2016 presidency  —  Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb announced Thursday that he is running for the Democratic presidential nomination.  —  Webb, 69, revealed the decision to throw his hat in the ring via a lengthy open letter to his supporters, posted to his official website.

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Late June 2015 - A Special Focus On The Supreme Court Decision  —  Liz Hamel, Jamie Firth, and Mollyann Brodie … Public Attention and Awareness Of King V. Burwell  —  The health care law faced its second major test at the Supreme Court this session …

Serta Will Stop Selling Donald Trump Mattress Line in Latest Defection  —  The move comes after the presidential candidate made disparaging comments about Mexican immigrants.  —  Serta, the largest U.S. mattress manufacturer, will end its business relationship with Donald Trump …

Revamped Bubble Wrap Loses Its Pop  —  Sealed Air, maker of the iconic packaging material, is rolling out a new flat version to cut down on the high costs of shipping air  —  Sealed Air Corp. has revamped its iconic Bubble Wrap.  The new product dubbed iBubble Wrap looks …

New Bipartisan Poll Finds Grateful Dead Popular Across Political Party Lines, All Age Groups  —  Favorable/Unfavorable Rating by Party: Republicans 32/15, Democrats 31/6, Independents 26/9  —  WASHINGTON, June 29, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The following is being released by Strategic Media, Inc.:

Social conservatives and libertarians will get married  —  The Republican Party, broadly speaking, is comprised of many factions that are often at odds with one another.  Prominent examples are the battles between the grassroots and the national party establishment and between defense hawks and non-interventionists.

Hillary Clinton To Address Latino Community Leaders At NCLR Conference  —  Clinton's Kansas City speech to one of the largest yearly gatherings of Latinos will come weeks after she addressed Hispanic elected officials in Las Vegas.  —  Hillary Clinton addressing the NCLR conference in 2005.

Trump defends inflammatory comments, asks ‘Who is doing the raping?’  —  Washington (CNN)Businessman Donald Trump continued his verbal attack against illegal immigrants on Wednesday, in an exclusive interview set to air at 10 p.m. on CNN Tonight with Don Lemon.

Philip Hamburger: Chevron's last days?  —  Philip Hamburger is the Maurice and Hilda Friedman Professor of Law at Columbia Law School and the author, most recently, of Is Administrative Law Unlawful?  (Editor's note: Answer: Yes.)  It is easily one of the most important books published …

Watch Lindsey Graham Choke Up Talking About Joe Biden  —  When Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) celebrated his retirement from the Air National Guard last week after 33 years of military service, he was greeted at the ceremony by an unexpected guest: Vice President Joe Biden.

Democrats Regain Edge in Party Affiliation  —  Story Highlights  —  PRINCETON, N.J. — In the second quarter of 2015, Democrats regained an advantage over Republicans in terms of Americans' party affiliation.  A total of 46% of Americans identified as Democrats (30%) or said they are independents …

US blocks attempts by Arab allies to fly heavy weapons directly to Kurds to fight Islamic State  —  Middle East allies accuse Barack Obama and David Cameron of failing to show strategic leadership in fight against Isil, as MPs could be given vote on whether to bomb Syria

Perry: Republicans Are Ones Offering Hope for Black Families  —  Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry on Thursday urged his party to fight for the African-American vote and said black families should hold Democrats accountable for what he called decades of unsuccessful anti-poverty programs.

Jobs Report Disappoints, Participation Rate Falls to Lowest Since 1977 … An increase in June payrolls followed smaller gains in the prior two months and wages were little changed as U.S. job market reflected a more moderate pace of economic growth.  —  The addition of 223,000 jobs followed …

A Needed Update for Overtime Pay  —  The Labor Department's new proposal to update the overtime-pay rules would give millions of American workers a toehold in the middle class.  By raising the salary threshold for overtime, which has barely budged since 1975, nearly five million more people …

Salon Media's Editorial Staff To Unionize with the Writers Guild of America, East  —  NEW YORK, NY (JULY 2, 2015) - The editorial staff at Salon Media, Inc., the pioneering digital media outlet founded in 1995, today issued the following letter announcing plans to unionize with the Writers Guild of America, East, AFL-CIO (WGAE):

This Bill O'Reilly piece on homeless people might be the worst Fox News segment ever  —  Fox New's Bill O'Reilly on Monday ran a horrible segment in which he characterized homeless people in New York City's Penn Station as dangerous, playing into some of the worst stereotypes about the homeless …

Activists Planned to Burn U.S. Flag in NYC Park — When They Showed Up, These Guys Were Waiting  —  Anti-police activists were set to burn the American flag at a New York City park Wednesday evening, but their plans seemingly changed when dozens of bikers and veterans came out to counter protest.

‘Dukes of Hazzard’ Star Rips TV Land for Dropping Show: “Can't We All Just Watch TV?”  —  “Are people who grew up watching the show now suddenly racists?”  John Schneider asks.  —  John Schneider is blasting TV Land for its decision to erase from its schedule — due its depiction of the Confederate flag …

Attorney General Paxton could face first-degree felony case  —  The criminal investigation against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has taken a more serious turn, with special prosecutors now planning to present a first-degree felony securities fraud case against him to a Collin County grand jury, News 8 has learned.

Joe Biden likely to join 2016 White House race next month, top fundraiser says … Vice President Joseph R. Biden's team is putting out the word that he is leaning in favor of joining the presidential race next month, according to a prominent Democratic fundraiser.

Why Congress Should Let Puerto Rico Declare Bankruptcy  —  It hasn't exactly been a quiet week in the world's debt markets.  Not only has Greece defaulted on a loan from the International Monetary Fund but on Monday Puerto Rico's governor, Alejandro Padilla, announced that the island's seventy …