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Let Me Start: How to weaken a president

Senator Pat Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, hinted at the real reason why background checks failed--Republicans didn't want to give President Obama a victor
US President Barack Obama holds a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on April 30, 2013. (Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
US President Barack Obama holds a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on April 30, 2013.

Senator Pat Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, hinted at the real reason why background checks failed--Republicans didn't want to give President Obama a victory. Now, an article by David Firestone in The New York Times takes that idea further: "For these Republicans, the visceral hatred of the president is their only guiding star, and they are absolutely convinced the voters in their districts feel the same way." And what's more, their ultimate goal is to make this president look "powerless and weak."

The Obama administration is moving to prevent girls younger than 15 from having over-the-counter access to the Plan B morning after pill. It's a decision at odds with many advocates of women's reproductive health and abortion rights.

Rhode Island is set to become the tenth state to approve marriage equality. The state's House of Representatives will vote today, and Gov. Lincoln Chafee says he'll sign it into law immediately.

President Obama will name longtime financier Penny Pritzker to be his Commerce Secretary.

Henry Kissinger joked with Hillary Clinton about becoming president. And another new poll shows she's the runaway favorite.

Finally, Ted Cruz for president? Really? He's exactly what the Republican Party says it doesn't want to be--ideological, doctrinaire--and yet, he's a conservative rock star. Some on the right say he's another Goldwater. Democrats can only hope...