The  mystery is over.

Palin says when she steps down as governor at the end of the month she’ll step back into the national spotlight — campaigning for Republicans, independents and even Democrats who share her values.

“I will go around the country on behalf of candidates who believe in the right things, regardless of their party label or affiliation,” Palin said in a Washington Times interview published on Sunday.

“People are so tired of the partisan stuff,” the former Republican vice-presidential candidate told the newspaper.

Palin did not name any politicians she might campaign for, saying she could not talk about that while she was still governor. “Whether the polarizing Alaskan would be welcome on the campaign circuit is an open question,” The Washington Times noted.

Palin stunned the political world on the eve of Independence Day by announcing that she would leave office on July 26 with 18 months left in her term. She gave no hint about future plans.

In the interview, Palin declined to talk about immediate employment prospects — including a possible move to television — but she left the door open for a future presidential bid, the newspaper said.

“I’m not ruling out anything — it is the way I have lived my life from the youngest age,” she said. “Let me peek out there and see if there’s an open door somewhere. And if there’s even a little crack of light, I’ll hope to plow through it.”

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Reuters photo by Hans Deryk (Palin speaks Republican governors conference in Miami November 13, 2008).

Obama has had an uneasy relationship with some Roman Catholics because of his support for abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research, which the church opposes.

He faced protesters when he gave a graduation speech at Notre Dame University, although his call for a “fair-minded” discussion on abortion earned several standing ovations.

But his relations with the Vatican have been cordial and he has spoken to the pope on the telephone. Obama told reporters before the trip that “there are going to be some areas where we’ve got deep agreements, there are going to be some areas where we’ve got some disagreements.”

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Osservatore Romano

The Chicago Democrat appointed to fill the Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama plans to announce on Friday he won’t seek election to a full six-year term in 2010. Word leaked out a day early, with sources in Chicago and Washington confirming Burris’ plans to forgo the midterm election.

The Chicago Sun-Times broke the news, reporting that Burris had raised only about $20,000 toward what undoubtedly would have been a very expensive campaign. The newspaper also quoted a source as saying that Burris, a former Illinois attorney general, was concerned about his legacy.

He entered office under a big cloud that never cleared. Burris was appointed on Dec. 30 by former Governor Rod Blagojevich, who later was impeached and indicted on corruption charges — including trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat.

Burris escaped a perjury charge last month when prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence aganist him. Burris declared his appointment “perfectly legal” and said he had never offered the ousted governor anything.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Frank Polich (Burris reacts to audience applause after speaking at a Chicago, church in  March)

And here’s a video of the same scene from ABC News:

Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (U.S. President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy take their places for a “family photo” with junior delegates to the Group of 8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy, on Thursday)

Or perhaps fear of igniting a political firestorm over Michael Jackson, the fallen “King of Pop.”

Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday she saw no need to vote on a resolution honoring the musical icon, who had been dogged by unproven allegations of child sexual abuse and acquitted of such charges in 2005.

“Michael Jackson was a great, great performer,” Pelosi told her weekly news conference.

“What I have said to my colleagues over the years … is that there is opportunity on the floor of the House to express their sympathy or their praise any time that they wish.”

But, she called unnecessary a resolution saluting Jackson as a  “global humanitarian” in the fight against AIDS and hunger, and ”an accomplished contributor” to the arts and entertainment.

“A resolution, I think, would open up to contrary views that are not necessary at this time,” she said.

Democratic Representative Sheila Jackson Lee offered the resolution a day after Jackson died at age 50 of cardiac arrest and she touted the measure at his nationally televised memorial service this week.

But it became apparent not everyone in the House of Representatives was a Michael Jackson fan. When some members asked for a moment of silence last month, a number of  lawmakers walked off the floor.

Republican Representative Peter King, in comments broadcast on YouTube, denounced what he described as the glorification of a “lowlife” and “pervert.”

A Democratic aide said party leaders wanted the matter to go away. ”They don’t want to end up in a fight.”

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Photo credit: Reuters/Aly Song (Pelosi in Shanghai in May), Reuters/Stephen Hird (Waxwork figure of Michael Jackson at Maddame Tussauds in London)

Obama’s top legislative priority, a massive overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system, has lurched through weeks of intensive horse-trading and positioning on Capitol Hill, where five different committees in Congress are trying to fashion workable proposals that can win initial approval by the August recess.

That timeline appears to be slipping as the effort to attract Republican support, pare the bill’s price tag of at least $1 trillion and find ways to pay for it without broad tax increases has left even some Democrats restive.

Obama’s other priority in Congress, the climate change bill, faces a much tougher road in the Senate than in the House, which passed a version late last month.

Republican criticism of his efforts to turn around the economy also has grown as the jobless rate continues to rise and calls for a second stimulus spending package grow louder.

Meanwhile, polls show Obama’s approval rating, while still strong, slipping slightly. A new CNN poll put it at 61 percent , down a point from a month earlier, while his disapproval rating inched up two points to 37 percent. In some areas he has taken an even harder hit, with his approval rating in the battleground state of Ohio slipping from 62 percent in May to 49 percent.

It’s enough to make a guy not want to come home.

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Photo credit: REUTERS/Brian Snyder (Librarian Gary Klein looks at jobs at The Work Place, which offers career services, in Boston)

Members of the House Intelligence Committee are not happy about it, that is also clear.

But the actual offense and who committed it was apparently discussed behind closed doors and cannot be revealed publicly which has led to a cryptic dance in statements from members of Congress and the CIA.

It’s worth mentioning that the CIA actually makes a living telling lies overseas to secure secrets for U.S. national security purposes. But the spy agency prides itself on telling truth to power at home.

So let’s see if we can wind our way through what is known so far to see where the pieces fit in the puzzle of shadows.

Six Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee sent CIA Director Leon Panetta a letter dated June 26 that said “recently you testified that you have determined that top CIA officials have concealed significant actions from all members of Congress, and misled members for a number of years from 2001 to this week. This is similar to other deceptions of which we are aware from other recent periods.”

A very tantalizing statement. The letter then asks that Panetta publicly correct his statement of May 15 that it is not CIA’s policy or practice to mislead Congress.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes, a Democrat, issued a statement very late Wednesday night (10:04 p.m. on the BlackBerry) that said he appreciated Panetta’s recent efforts to bring issues to the committee’s attention that “had not previously been conveyed.”

But hold on… Reyes goes on to say that while the CIA has told the truth in the “vast majority of matters,” there were “rare instances” in which “certain officers have not adhered to the high standards held, as a rule, by the CIA with respect to truthfulness in reporting.”

Doesn’t require a whole lot of interpretation: Someone lied

The CIA responded by saying Panetta stands by his May 15 statement that it is not the policy of the spy agency to mislead Congress.

CIA spokesman George Little said Panetta’s actions backed up his words since “it was the CIA itself that took the initiative to notify the oversight committees.” (Still no word on what the offense was, or who committed it).

Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee were not going to be left out of this one and issued a statement even later at night. They charge that the Democrats are whacking the CIA to protect their leader, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who became embroiled in controversy over when she knew that waterboarding was being used on terrorism suspects.

The Republicans say the “blatantly political nature” of the letters from the Democrats is revealed by the fact that “one was slipped under a staffer’s office door late at night, the other was deliberately hidden from Republican members for two weeks and had to be obtained from the press.”

So that’s what we know. What we don’t know is who lied about what.

Any ideas please send them in.

With the stage set for her nationally broadcast Senate confirmation hearing next week, President Barack Obama’s first pick for the highest U.S. court seems headed toward confirmation as the first Hispanic U.S. justice.

Backers and opponents of Sotomayor have called her a liberal. Yet a group of law professors squarely in her corner say she is a moderate who goes by the book — the law book. 

Calling it an unprecedented show of support, the law professors sent a letter praising Sotomayor as a “brilliant, careful, fair-minded jurist” to Senate Judiciary Committee leaders.

Several of the professors told reporters that despite the belief of many backers and critics, they do not consider Sotomayor a liberal.

“There is a remarkable consensus here of how this ‘liberal tag’ … ought not be applied to her,” Daniel Richman of Columbia Law School said. ”She is very much a straight-forward, moderate judge.” 

The support by the law professors came a day after the American Bar Association gave Sotomayor its top rating and she won the endorsement of leading law enforcement groups.

Critics are also gearing up for the hearings. Conservatives, including Republican senators, stepped up their criticism, and a number of gun rights activists urged senators to oppose her nomination.

One early critic, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, said, “The only way she can get derailed is if she performs poorly next week,” according to The Miami Herald.  He said he remained undecided, but ”I honestly think I could vote for her.”

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Photo credit: Reuters/Yuri Gripas (Sotomayor at a meeting with a senator)

For Biden, it is a rare chance to gain the administration spotlight by design, rather than because of his famously loose lips and periodic departures from the Team Obama script.

He strayed again over the weekend when he told ABC News the administration misread the economy upon entering office. Obama, in a round of interviews with U.S. television networks on Tuesday, was forced to backtrack and explain those comments.

Biden’s expertise is in foreign policy, not domestic issues such as healthcare, and Obama has acknowledged as much by giving him the lead in dealing with Iraq and a prominent role on issues like Russian relations. Biden kicked off his role in Iraq with a surprise visit there over the July 4th holiday weekend.

The announcement on the hospital deal, which follows a deal with drug makers, comes as the administration hunts for ways to cover the cost of a healthcare overhaul with an expected price tage of at least $1 trillion.

It's one thing they can agree on... baseball. 

Major League Baseball is bringing all five living U.S. presidents together at next week's 80th All-Star Game.

President Barack Obama and his predecessors George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter will appear in a 7-minute video presentation as part of the U.S. sports league's all-star festivities on Tuesday in St. Louis. Baseball called it the first time all living U.S. presidents would participate in a ceremony at a sporting event.

The video address will be part of a pre-game ceremony honoring 30 men and women being recognized by MLB and People magazine for acts of giving and service to their communities. Each person represents one of the sport's 30 teams.

President Obama will follow the video presentation by thorwing out the ceremonial first pitch for the game.

Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (Bush hosted meeting at White House for all presidents after  Obama became president-elect)