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Exclusive: E-mails between Sanford, woman — Woman in affair declines interview — Below are excerpts of e-mails, obtained by The State newspaper in December, between Gov. Mark Sanford's personal e-mail account and Maria, a woman in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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The disturbing glee at Mark Sanford's downfall. — Mark Sanford is no longer missing, but he's obviously lost. The South Carolina governor's press conference was excruciating: apology, followed by self-flagellation, followed by apology. It was like watching a man light himself on fire.
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The Moderate Voice, The Campaign Spot, Ideas Special Report, Teh Resistance Blog and Balloon Juice

Social conservatives fall from moral high ground — Republicans retreat from values claims — Social conservatives, the once-powerful force that focused the Republican agenda on moral virtue and family values, have suffered a diminished brand on the national political landscape …
Discussion:
The New Ledger


Sanford Case a New Dose of Bad News for Republicans — WASHINGTON — Republicans were just starting to breathe a little easier. — The news that Senator John Ensign had had an affair with a former aide who was married to another former aide was fading. Polls showed some voter impatience …


Conservatives Write Off Sanford as a National Leader — Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) speaks at the Tax Day Tea Party in Columbia, S.C., on April 15. (YouTube: GovernorSanford) — At the Washington, D.C. office of FreedomWorks, the conservative non-profit that has promoted and trained organizers …
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Ben Smith's Blog, Michelle Malkin, Erick's blog, Salon, Mark Sanford 2012 and Sadly, No!

Sanford took taxpayer-funded trip to Argentina last June
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The State, Salon, Washington Monthly, Shakesville, Ben Smith's Blog, Raw Story, The Campaign Spot, Kausfiles and Law Dork, 2.0

E-mails detail intimate affair
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Michael Calderone's Blog, The Sleuth, MoJo Blog Posts, Hot Air, Gawker, Achenblog and The Palmetto Scoop

Obama's Michael Dukakis moment — Barack Obama got ABC to move their news division into the White House in order to make the big pitch for his egalitarian, everyone-gets-treated-equally ObamaCare push. Instead, Obama fumbled into a Michael Dukakis moment that exposed him as a hypocrite.
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Obama discusses deathbed measures — At a healthcare town hall, he says stopping futile procedures for the terminally ill can lower costs. — Reporting from Washington — President Obama suggested at a town hall event Wednesday night that one way to shave medical costs is to stop expensive …

EXCLUSIVE: President Obama Defends Right to Choose Best Care — In ABC News Health Care Forum, President Answers Questions About Reform — President Obama struggled to explain today whether his health care reform proposals would force normal Americans to make sacrifices that wealthier …

Fact Check: The Truth Behind Obama's Health Care Plan — Fact or Fiction? Decoding the President's Prescription for American Health Care — President Obama took his health care reform plan to the American people in a forum at the White House Wednesday night broadcast live on ABC.

ABC ObamaCare Special Turns Into Presidential Filibuster
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Flopping Aces

ABC's White House special struggled for viewers
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Riehl World View


Iran opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi lashes out; 70 professors arrested — Mousavi blasts Iran's supreme leader and state media. He says the ongoing government crackdown on post-election protests puts the nation at risk. Meanwhile, teachers who met with Mousavi are arrested.
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MPs ‘snub’ Ahmadinejad party — More than 100 MPs appear to have snubbed an invitation to celebrate Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election win, local press reports say. — All 290 MPs were invited to the victory party on Wednesday night but 105 did not turn up, the reports say.
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Aljazeera, Telegraph, The Strata-Sphere, Wake up America, Hot Air, A Blog For All, PoliBlog, Taylor Marsh and IBTimes.co.uk

Iran protesters alter tactics to avoid death
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New York Times, The League of Ordinary …, The Daily Dish, The Washington Independent, ATTACKERMAN and Guardian

Supreme Court Says Child's Rights Violated by Strip Search — WASHINGTON — In a ruling of interest to educators, parents and students across the country, the Supreme Court ruled, 8 to 1, on Thursday that the strip search of a 13-year-old Arizona girl by school officials who were looking …
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The Moderate Voice, pandagon.net, USA Today, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Daily Kos, ACS Blog, RHRealityCheck.org and Balloon Juice
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Supreme Court Rules School's Strip Search of Girl Was Illegal — The Supreme Court ruled today that Arizona school officials violated the constitutional rights of a 13-year-old girl when they subjected her to a strip search on the suspicion she might be hiding ibuprofen in her underwear.


The Cap and Tax Fiction — Democrats off-loading economics to pass climate change bill. — Printer — Friendly — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has put cap-and-trade legislation on a forced march through the House, and the bill may get a full vote as early as Friday.
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Hillary Is Wrong About the Settlements — The U.S. and Israel reached a clear understanding about natural growth. — Printer — Friendly — Despite fervent denials by Obama administration officials, there were indeed agreements between Israel and the United States regarding the growth of Israeli settlements on the West Bank.
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Commentary
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Emanuel: Sanford needed a cigarette — Perhaps no one knows how to butter up reporters better than White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. — The longtime Washington insider is known for personally reaching out to reporters and always being cognizant of the media landscape.


Stunning pictures of the volcano that blew a hole in the sky as astronauts witness eruption from International Space Station — Framed by a circle of clouds, this is a stunning illustration of Nature's powerful force. — A plume of smoke, ash and steam soars five miles into the sky from an erupting volcano.
Discussion:
Doug Ross

Bush administration leaks bolstered Rick Renzi's reelection bid — In the fall of 2006, one day after the Justice Department granted permission to a U.S. attorney to place a wiretap on a Republican congressman suspected of corruption, existence of the investigation was leaked to the press …