Blind to the Past — and Future  —  As a new effort at comprehensive immigration reform inches its way forward in the Senate, dissent from many conservatives is revealing their true contempt for, and fear of, the possibility that demographic groups who look different from their base will accrue power.

No same-sex marriage vote until November: 'I've never been sadder,' sponsor says  —  SPRINGFIELD — Gay and lesbian couples who want to legally marry in Illinois willl have to wait.  —  His voice breaking with emotion, state Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) tearfully said he will not call …

After news editor boycott, U.S. attorney general loosens rules  —  (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder loosened his rules for speaking with media editors on Friday during a second day of meetings with them about his Justice Department's handling of investigations that involve reporters, the editors said.

Turkey protests rage for second day  —  Turkey is entering a second day of violent protests, with fresh clashes between police and demonstrators in Istanbul and the capital, Ankara.  —  The protest began as a sit-in over plans to redevelop Gezi Park in Istanbul's Taksim Square, but escalated after police used tear gas.

CNET Founder Halsey Minor Bankrupt 5 Years After Firm's $1.8 Billion Sale  —  In 2008, Halsey Minor sold CNET Networks, the technology media property he founded, to CBS Corp. (CBS) for $1.8 billion.  Minor's personal haul was $200 million, according to CNNMoney.

Donors to GOP Group Drew IRS Scrutiny  —  At the same time the Internal Revenue Service was targeting tea-party groups, the tax agency took the unusual step of trying to impose gift taxes on donors to a prominent conservative advocacy group formed in 2007 to build support for President George W. Bush's Iraq troop surge.

Tea party speaker presents proof Grover Norquist is a secret Muslim: ‘He has a beard’  —  A speaker at a tea party event in Texas recently suggested that that anti-tax lobbyist Grover Norquist was a secret Muslim because “he has a beard.”  —  In a video posted by the Far North Dallas Tea Party on Thursday …

Republican Congressman Says McCain Was Partly Responsible For The Benghazi Terror Attacks  —  Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) accused Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on Wednesday of being complicit in the terror attacks on the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya last year and the deaths of four Americans …

Woman, baby, three others killed as tornadoes hit Oklahoma City suburbs  —  Multiple tornadoes — one of them a mile wide — killed five people and injured more than 70 Friday evening in the Oklahoma City area, just miles from where a monster tornado left 24 dead last week.

The drawdown diet: Marines steamed by loss of hot meal at Afghanistan base  —  Marines at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan will lose a key daily meal starting Saturday, causing some to forgo a hot breakfast and others to work six-plus hours without refueling on cooked food, according to Marines at the base and Marine Corps officials.

Video shows Boston bombing suspects at gym days before attack  —  (CNN) — Three days before the Boston Marathon bombings, suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were working out together at a Boston gym.  —  Security cameras captured footage of the brothers arriving at the Wai Kru mixed martial arts center …

Why I secretly recorded Mitch McConnell  —  Earlier this year, I secretly made an audio recording of Sen. Mitch McConnell, the most powerful Republican on the planet, at his campaign headquarters in Kentucky.  The released portion of the recording clocks in at less than 12 minutes, but those few minutes changed my life.

More trouble for the IRS  —  The new acting IRS chief acknowledged Friday that an upcoming audit would find improper spending at an agency conference, opening up a new trouble spot for an agency already embattled over its treatment of Tea Party groups.  —  Danny Werfel, the acting commissioner …

State Department highlights Iran's ‘marked resurgence’ of state-sponsored terrorism  —  The State Department released its Country Reports on Terrorism 2012 yesterday.  The year 2012 witnessed a “marked resurgence of Iran's state sponsorship of terrorism, through its Islamic Revolutionary …

Obama's Data Team Totally Schooled Gallup  —  In the new issue of Bloomberg Businessweek, I have a short feature about how Google's (GOOG) executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, is investing millions in a new company with Dan Wagner and two dozen other veterans of the Obama campaign's data analytics team.