Barack Obama's early VA response: Executive inaction  —  President Barack Obama wants to talk about flexing his administrative and executive power to do more.  Instead, he got stuck talking about a clear administrative and executive failure that, at least so far, he hasn't done much about.

Al Qaeda terrorists at Guantanamo treated better than our vets  —  President Obama finally addressed the nation Wednesday about the growing scandal at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.  After meeting with VA Secretary Eric Shinseki he pledged to hold folks accountable.  —  Thanks, Mr. President.

A Surveillance Bill That Falls Short  —  A year ago, it would have been unimaginable for the House to pass a bill to curtail the government's abusive surveillance practices.  The documents leaked by Edward Snowden, however, finally shocked lawmakers from both parties into action …

MS Tea Party vice chairman arrested in Cochran case  —  UPDATED: Madison city court officials say that Mark Mayfield will appear before a judge today.  —  Also, attorney Kevin Camp, who represents Clayton Kelly, said two more arrests either have been or will be made in addition to Mayfield.

Mark Cuban discusses his own prejudices in startling terms  —  It turns out, regarding race-related views among NBA owners, Donald Sterling may have company.  —  Less than a month after Sterling rocked the sports world with racist remarks, Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has openly acknowledged his own prejudices.

They Had a Dream  —  Rule by experts comes a cropper  —  They had a dream.  For almost a hundred years now, the famed academic-artistic-and-punditry industrial complex has dreamed of a government run by their kind of people (i.e., nature's noblemen), whose intelligence, wit, and refined sensibilities would bring us a heaven on earth.

White House Contacted YouTube During Benghazi Attack, Darrell Issa Says  —  A still-classified State Department e-mail says that one of the first responses from the White House to the Benghazi attack was to contact YouTube to warn of the “ramifications” of allowing the posting of an anti-Islamic video …

Please allow me to rant for a moment about the state of the media.  —  It's well known that CNN has gone from the network of Bernie Shaw, John Holliman, and Peter Arnett reporting live from Baghdad in 1991 to the network of kidnapped white girls.  Our nation's newspapers have …

Who made the pivot to Asia?  Putin.  —  On Wednesday, it finally happened — the pivot to Asia.  No, not the United States.  It was Russia that turned East.  —  In Shanghai, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a spectacular energy deal …

Eric Cantor stresses support for legalization measure  —  House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Wednesday stressed his support for a legalization measure for young undocumented immigrants in the military, after he was criticized by advocates who see him as the main obstacle to immigration reform.

NBC News's Brian Williams interviews Snowden, Greenwald  —  Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy  —  NBC News's Lester Holt on Wednesday night anchored “NBC Nightly News,” substituting for Brian Williams, who was said to be “on assignment.”

Las Vegas, Cincinnati out of the mix for 2016 GOP convention  —  (CNN) - Las Vegas and Cincinnati withdrew bids to host the 2016 GOP convention, the Republican National Committee announced Thursday.  —  Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, and Kansas City are still in contention to host the convention …