State GOP gets to vote on secession at convention  —  To secede or not to secede.  —  That will be the question for Wisconsin Republicans at next month's convention.  —  Earlier this month, the party's Resolutions Committee voted in favor of a proposal that says the state party …

Professor Explains Kansas City Shooting Suspect's Visit To His Classroom  —  The Missouri State professor who invited Frazier Glenn Miller says the white supremacist's visit was intended to show students what real extremism looks like.  —  The scene outside the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park …

Washington Post wins Pulitzer Prize for public service, shared with Guardian  —  The Washington Post won two Pulitzer Prizes on Monday, including the prestigious public-service medal for a series of stories that exposed the National Security Agency's massive global surveillance programs.

APNEWSBREAK: RUSSIAN JET PASSES NEAR US WARSHIP  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — A Russian fighter jet made multiple, close-range passes near an American warship in the Black Sea for more than 90 minutes Saturday amid escalating tensions in the region, U.S. military officials said Monday.

Updated Estimates of the Effects of the Insurance Coverage Provisions of the Affordable Care Act, April 2014  —  CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have updated their estimates of the budgetary effects of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that relate to health insurance coverage.

Attkisson: “Chilling effect” from Obama administration on journalists  —  Howard Kurtz interviewed recently-departed CBS News reporter, and asked her why she gave up on a 20-year career at one of the premier broadcast networks.  Attkisson told Kurtz that political considerations were at play …

Ukraine Asks U.N. for Peacekeeping Troops as Militants Defy Deadline  —  SLOVYANSK, Ukraine — In a new sign of desperation, Ukraine's acting president asked the United Nations on Monday to send peacekeeping troops to the east of the country, where pro-Russia militias have seized government buildings …

David Foster Wallace was right: Irony is ruining our culture  —  Percy Shelley famously wrote that “poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”  For Shelley, great art had the potential to make a new world through the depth of its vision and the properties of its creation.

Struggling Dems waiting for Hillary in 2014  —  She's one of the most sought-after surrogates of a party that can use all the help it can get in the midterms.  But for reasons both personal and strategic, Hillary Clinton, potential Democratic 2016 standard-bearer, has largely resisted the tug …

Blackburn: GOP 'Led The Fight For Women's Equality' (VIDEO)  —  Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Sunday insisted that even though Republican Senators blocked the Democrats' equal pay bill last week, her party is fighting for women's rights.  —  “I find this war on women rhetoric just almost silly …

America's Abortion-Free Zone Grows  —  Montana was the only hope for women living 600 miles in any direction to obtain an abortion.  Now there's two clinics left thanks to vandalism.  How long can they stay open?  —  MINNEAPOLIS—There is a nearly 1,200-mile-wide desert of abortion providers stretching …

Rick Perry hires Austin lawyer for criminal inquiry into veto threat  —  Gov. Rick Perry has retained a high-profile Austin defense lawyer to represent him in a criminal investigation into whether he illegally withheld money from the Travis County district attorney's office, the American-Statesman and KVUE-TV confirmed Sunday.

Three Expensive Milliseconds  —  Four years ago Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, abruptly canceled America's biggest and arguably most important infrastructure project, a desperately needed new rail tunnel under the Hudson River.  Count me among those who blame his presidential ambitions …

Obama Asks First Openly Gay Episcopal Bishop To Lead Prayer At Easter Breakfast  —  At the close of the White House's Easter Prayer Breakfast on Monday, President Barack Obama unexpectedly turned the floor over to Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop.  —  Robinson tweeted about the impromptu prayer.

Dutch Police Make Arrest In Teen Twitter Terror Threat  —  A teenager who tweeted terrorist threats to American Airlines has been arrested at her home in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.  —  Wessel Stole, an official spokesperson for the Dutch police, told Business Insider:

Abercrombie casts doubt on Inouye's ‘dying wish’  —  The Hanabusa letter's authorship is “problematic,” the governor says  —  For political and emotional drama, it's hard to top this: U.S. Sen. Daniel Ino­uye, the most beloved and respected figure in Hawaii state history …

More Than Half of Americans Say Federal Taxes Too High  —  Fifty-four percent say they are fair, the lowest since 2001  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — As many Americans scramble to prepare their taxes ahead of the April 15 deadline, a majority, 52%, say the amount they have to pay in federal income tax is …

Accusation of FBI spying stalls 9/11 hearing  —  GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba — A military judge abruptly recessed the first 9/11 trial hearing of the year Monday after defense lawyers accused the FBI in open court of trying to turn a defense team security officer into a secret informant.

Cynical Race-Baiting Will Fail to Save the Democrats  —  Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House, is guilty of encouraging her members to wage an ugly race war, but it won't work.  —  Sadly, it has come down to this.  When they assumed power in 2009, Democrats promised …

Port Authority Commissioner Anthony Sartor Resigns  —  A longtime commissioner at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey resigned on Monday, people familiar with the matter said.  —  Anthony Sartor submitted his resignation just days after a new investigation into activity …