Trayvon Martin And The Irony Of American Justice  —  In trying to assess the the killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, two seemingly conflicted truths emerge for me.  The first is that is that based on the case presented by the state, and based on Florida law, George Zimmerman …

House GOP's endgame on immigration: Do nothing? … This is why the critical question remains: Is there anything that can get a majority of House Republicans to support a path to citizenship under any circumstances?  If there isn't, then there is no percentage for those House Republicans …

Reid digs in as Senate nears nuclear option showdown  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid isn't backing down from the “nuclear option” as Democrats and Republicans clash ahead of a rare meeting in the Old Senate Chamber.  —  The nuclear option — which would allow Reid to end filibusters …

Senate Control in 2014 Increasingly Looks Like a Tossup  —  This weekend's announcement by the former governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer, that he would not seek that state's Democratic nomination for Senate represents the latest in a series of favorable developments for Republicans as they seek control of the chamber.

Wendy Davis Raises Nearly $1 Million … State Sen. Wendy Davis, the new star of the Texas Democratic Party, raised nearly $1 million in the final two weeks of June, much of it from small donors who sent her money after she launched her famous filibuster of a restrictive abortion bill, her campaign will reveal Monday.

MSNBC crushed in Zimmerman ratings race  —  MSNBC's ratings woes came into sharp relief on Monday with the release of the preliminary numbers for the Zimmerman verdict.  —  In the 10-11 p.m. hour on Saturday night, when the verdict in, Fox News had 3,682,000 total viewers …

Hunger Games, U.S.A.  —  Something terrible has happened to the soul of the Republican Party.  We've gone beyond bad economic doctrine.  We've even gone beyond selfishness and special interests.  At this point we're talking about a state of mind that takes positive glee in inflicting further suffering on the already miserable.

U.S. Repeals Propaganda Ban, Spreads Government-Made News To Americans  —  For decades, a so-called anti-propaganda law prevented the U.S. government's mammoth broadcasting arm from delivering programming to American audiences.  But on July 2, that came silently to an end with the implementation of a new reform passed in January.

Restaurant Shift: Sorry, Just Part-Time  —  More Restaurants Replace Full-Timers, Concerned About Insurance  —  Ken Adams has been turning to more part-time workers at his 10 Subway sandwich shops in Michigan to avoid possibly incurring higher health-care costs under the new federal insurance law.

‘Heroic effort at great personal cost’: Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel Peace Prize  —  A Swedish sociology professor has nominated Edward Snowden for the Nobel Peace Prize.  He says the NSA whistleblower could help “save the prize from the disrepute incurred by the hasty and ill-conceived decision” …

Even McDonnell's friends bracing for the worst  —  Paul Nardo is spending hours these days in the attic of the state Capitol.  He's rummaging through the records of the House of Delegates.  In those damp-smelling volumes, the clerk is searching for clues on the legislature's role in the unprecedented …