Diplomat: U.S. Special Forces told “you can't go” to Benghazi during attacks  —  The deputy of slain U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens has told congressional investigators that a team of Special Forces prepared to fly from Tripoli to Benghazi during the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks was forbidden …

Gore Is Romney-Rich With $200 Million After Bush Defeat  —  In 1999, Al Gore, then U.S. vice president and a Democratic candidate for president, sold $6,000 worth of cows.  —  The former senator, who spent most of his working life in Congress, had a net worth of about $1.7 million and assets …

None Dare Call It Treason  —  As Brother Benen notes this morning, the National Rifle Association's new president, James Porter of Birmingham, Alabama, likes to talk about the importance of the Second Amendment as a way to ensure the American people will be able to “resist tyranny”—i.e. …

The Fiscal Cost of Unlawful Immigrants and Amnesty to the U.S. Taxpayer  —  By Robert Rector and Jason Richwine, Ph.D.  —  Executive Summary  —  Unlawful immigration and amnesty for current unlawful immigrants can pose large fiscal costs for U.S. taxpayers.

Mediaite Learns: 'Vast Majority Of National Advertisers Now Refuse To Air Ads During Limbaugh's Show'  —  As we reported earlier this morning, Rush Limbaugh is allegedly in the midst of a battle with Cumulus Media, the distributor of his radio show.  The company's CEO has blamed ad revenue losses …

Syria Is Not Iraq  —  IN the search for an American response to the civil war in Syria, the favorite guidebook seems to be our ill-fated adventure in Iraq.  We have another brutal Middle East autocrat holding power on behalf of a sectarian minority.  We have another dubious cast of opposition factions competing for foreign patronage.

Rick Perry compares rejecting LGBT people to fighting slavery  —  Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) said Sunday that he believes rejecting LGBT people is similar to fighting slavery during the pre-Civil War era.  —  Appearing on the Family Research Council's program “Stand With Scouts Sunday,” …

Justin Bieber Breaks Istanbul Concert For Muslim Call To Prayer  —  Justin Bieber has had what might be politely termed an awkward spring so far, whether he was joking about whether Anne Frank would have been a fan of his—an idea brilliantly satirized in the New Yorker by Yoni Brenner …

Meet The ‘Liberator’: Test-Firing The World's First Fully 3D-Printed Gun  —  “Alright.  One...two...”  —  Before “three” arrives, a shot reverberates across the overcast central Texas landscape.  A tall, sandy blond engineer named John has just pulled a twenty-foot length of yellow string tied …

Twitter is ready to be a true news operation  —  Twitter is hiring a ‘head of news’ in its bid to be even more indispensable to global media, but will it work?  —  There are fewer and fewer jobs in journalism, but last week an ultimate job was posted.  Twitter, fast becoming the basic source …

German euro founder calls for ‘catastrophic’ currency to be broken up  —  Oskar Lafontaine, the German finance minister who launched the euro, has called for a break-up of the single currency to let southern Europe recover, warning that the current course is “leading to disaster”.

Abortion Rights Community Has Become the NRA of the Left  —  The abortion clinic of alleged killer Kermit Gosnell was not illegal.  But any talk of more government regulation unleashes an NRA-style assault from the abortion rights contingent, says Kirsten Powers.  —  What should we learn from the Kermit Gosnell trial?

Germany Arrests 93-Year-Old Alleged Former Auschwitz Guard  —  BERLIN (AP) — German authorities say they have arrested a 93-year-old alleged former Auschwitz guard who once lived in the United States on suspicion of accessory to murder.  —  Hans Lipschis was taken into custody Monday …

Sanford has momentum in SC-1  —  PPP's final poll of the special election in South Carolina's 1st Congressional District finds a race that's too close to call, with Republican Mark Sanford leading Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch 47-46.  The 1 point lead for Sanford represents a 10 point reversal …

Background Checks Bill Would Get A ‘Couple More Votes’ Now: Harry Reid  —  WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats believe that they have several new votes in favor of a bill that would expand background checks for gun buyers, after weeks in which those who opposed the legislation faced strong political backlash at home.