How Oklahoma Botched an Execution  —  Clayton Lockett's lethal injection suffered a problem more fundamental than the drugs  —  On Tuesday night, after Oklahoma botched the lethal injection of Clayton Lockett, the director of the Department of Corrections said Lockett's vein had not only “blown,” but actually “exploded.”

Senate Republicans Filibuster Minimum Wage Hike  —  As expected, Senate Republicans voted on Wednesday to block debate on legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour.  —  The procedural motion to begin debate received 54 votes for, and 42 against — short of the 60 needed to break a filibuster.

Warriors Had the Blueprint For a Dramatic Boycott Ready to Go  —  The plan was set, the product of a 30-minute players meeting.  The Warriors were going to go through pre-game warm-ups and take part in the national anthem and starting line-up introductions.

Senate Democrats plan vote to reverse Citizens United decision  —  Senate Democrats will schedule a vote this year on a constitutional amendment to reform campaign finance as they face tens of millions of dollars worth of attack ads from conservative groups.

White House Directed Incorrect Benghazi Narrative  —  Newly-released emails: “Video” to blame, “not a broader failure or policy.”  —  Newly-released documents reveal direct White House involvement in steering the public narrative about the September 11, 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi …

Betting Against Nate Silver  —  Number-crunching Senate prediction models are fun to follow but are not very useful.  —  Nate Silver's presidential projections are more accurate than his Senate picks.  (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)  —  I'm a numbers guy.

Here's What Happens When the GOP Takes Over the Senate  —  From abortion bans to Obamacare cuts to, maybe, an empty Supreme Court chair, the Republicans already know exactly what they'll do if they get control of both houses of Congress.  —  Passing a federal law banning almost all abortions after 20 weeks.

GOP's white Southern men problem: Why they can't hold Democrats down any longer  —  In a very famous (and possibly apocryphal) quote, Lyndon Johnson said upon signing the 1964 Civil Rights Act that the Democrats had lost the South for a generation.  And there's little doubt that the Republicans immediately saw a path to a new majority.

BREAKING NEWS: Train Has Derailed in Lynchburg  —  Lynchburg, Va - Lynchburg emergency officials have confirmed that a train has gone off the tracks in downtown Lynchburg.  It happened around 1:45 Wednesday afternoon.  —  Between 12 and 14 CSX tankers carrying crude oil were involved …

Rep. Thompson doubles down on racial remarks in interview with CNN's Dana Bash  —  (CNN) - In an exclusive interview with CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash, Rep. Bennie Thompson doubled down on controversial remarks he made about race over the weekend.

Justice Scalia Makes Epic Blunder In Supreme Court Opinion  —  It's not often that a Supreme Court justice makes a factual blunder in a formal opinion.  —  Legal experts say Justice Antonin Scalia erred in his dissent in the 6-2 decision Tuesday to uphold the Environmental Protection Agency's authority …

Rand Paul to plunge into North Carolina Senate race  —  Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is making an 11th hour plunge into the North Carolina Senate race, aiming to boost his preferred candidate and block the GOP establishment's favorite, state House Speaker Thom Tillis, from scoring a clean win in Tuesday's primary.

Is Barry Whiffing?  —  WASHINGTON — Stop whining, Mr. President.  —  And stop whiffing.  —  Don't whinge off the record with columnists and definitely don't do it at a press conference with another world leader.  It is disorienting to everybody, here at home and around the world.

The Onion sets its sights on BuzzFeed, Upworthy  —  Finally!  The Onion is taking on BuzzFeed and Upworthy on their turf.  —  This June the satire site — stuck for now in the hopelessly 20th century business of spoofing reported, written news articles — will launch Clickhole.com.  —  What's that?

Definitions used in Country Reports on Terrorism 2013:  —  Section 2656f(d) of Title 22 of the United States Code defines certain key terms used in Section 2656f(a) as follows:  —  (1) the term “international terrorism” means terrorism involving citizens or the territory of more than one country;

Rick Santorum tells GOP group he's ‘not sure’ if the party cares about poor people as much as Democrats do  — At a meeting of conservatives, Santorum was asked for his thoughts on the Earned Income Tax Credit  — As part of his response to the question, Santorum said he's 'not sure …

Big donor secrecy: 'Irony, but it's not hypocrisy'  —  CHICAGO — Democratic attacks on the Koch brothers for secretive campaign spending have become a virtual plank in the party's platform, but it turns out big-money liberals can be just as defensive when their own closed-door activities are put in the spotlight.