Jenny Sanford

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford’s admitted affair with an Argentine woman has been our only respite from news of Michael Jackson’s death. The latest word in the case is from Sanford’s wife, Jenny, who said in stories yesterday that she’d be willing to forgive him.

“Forgiveness opens the door for Mark to begin to work privately, humbly and respectfully toward reconciliation with me,” she said. “However, to achieve true reconciliation will take time, involve repentance, and will not be easy.”

She called her husband’s behavior “inexcusable” (gee, ya think?) — but is apparently willing, on some level, to excuse it. ”Mark has…

With public and congressional support dwindling for the proposed health care plan, President Obama held a town hall forum in Virginia Wednesday to gain support. It might have had the opposite effect.

According to Fox News, there has been criticism that the questions asked at the forum were staged and asked by individuals who were members of groups that supported his health care plan. The article also cited reporters who said that the forum was an attempt to control the media.

“I’m amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency,” said veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas at a White…

Ten states struggled to pass budgets before the Tuesday deadline, including Illinois. According to the Wall Street Journal, state governments could face partial shutdowns if budgets aren’t created soon.

In Illinois, the new fiscal year has already started with no budget, according to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article.

The state will ultimately be more than $9 billion in the red for the fiscal year that starts today, Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration says, unless the Legislature provides new revenue. He has warned of potential deep cuts in human services such as day care subsidies and elder care, as well as interruptions in other state…

As U.S. troops partially pulled out of Iraq late Monday, Iraqis marked June 30 as a day for celebration.

According to Fox News, Iraq officially took control of its fate as the United States handed over security responsibilities to Iraqi forces.

The dangers facing Iraq were brought into stark focus Monday as U.S. military officials reported that four American soldiers were killed in combat on the eve of the withdrawal.

About 130,000 troops, however, will still be in Iraq. The withdrawal is just part of a U.S.-Iraqi security pact and marks the first major step toward withdrawing all American forces from the country…

The Supreme Court ruled this morning that firefighters in the controversial court case about reverse racism were unfairly denied promotions because of their race. The judgment reversed Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s ruling that race wasn’t a factor, according to MSNBC.

New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the [Supreme] court said Monday in a 5-4 decision. The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities.

“Fear of litigation alone cannot justify an employer’s reliance on…