In a final videotaped message, a sad reflection of the sexist stories we so often see on screen  —  Police were examining this video posted on YouTube in which a man who identifies himself as Elliot Rodger says he is planning an attack in Isla Vista because he had been snubbed by women.

Joe The Plumber To UCSB Parents: 'Your Dead Kids Don't Trump' My Guns  —  Samuel Wurzelbacher gave his condolences this week to the families of the victims of the mass shooting near the University of California, Santa Barbara.  But no tragedy is going to stop “Joe The Plumber” from defending the Second Amendment.

Obama announces plan to keep 9,800 US troops in Afghanistan after 2014  —  May 25, 2014: President Obama greets troops at Bagram Airfield, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, during an unannounced visit.AP  —  President Obama announced Tuesday that he aims to keep 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan …

SUMMING UP THE FIRING OF JILL ABRAMSON  —  The story of Jill Abramson's abrupt termination as the executive editor of the Times is one of those running stories in which reporters peel away one layer only to be presented with another.  The earlier layers are still a part of the truth …

How the Gun Nuts Try to Excuse Away the Santa Barbara Slaughter—and Why They're All Wrong  —  The firearms fanboys have been more creative than usual, scrambling to defend their precious weapons in the wake of the massacre in Santa Barbara.  It's only made their excuses lamer.

There's another scandal in American health care  —  TWEET SHARE LINKEDIN EMAIL PRINT  —  The investigation is ongoing, but as of now, it looks like overwhelmed VA hospitals shunted some veterans onto secret wait lists and delayed their care (read Vox's explainer here).

Gun Activists Flaunting Assault Rifles Get Booted From Chili's and Sonic  —  As a backlash grows, open-carry groups in Texas beat a retreat.  —  It would be an understatement to say that the tactics of gun rights activists have been backfiring of late.  The showdown has taken place foremost in Texas …

Kinsley, Greenwald and Government Secrets  —  Michael Kinsley's review of Glenn Greenwald's new book, “No Place to Hide” hasn't even appeared in the printed Book Review yet - that won't happen until June 8 - but it's already infuriated a lot of people.  After the review was published online last week …

‘Duck Dynasty’ star Phil Robertson to address Republican Leadership Conference  —  Phil Robertson, the controversial star of the hit TV show “Duck Dynasty” will address the upcoming Republican Leadership Conference on Thursday.  —  Robertson will talk to the annual confab in the evening of its opening day …

HILLARY CLINTON: Book is not for 'followers of Washington's long-running soap opera ... I'm proud of what we accomplished ... America remains the “indispensable nation"' — GOP SENATE CONTRACT '14?  —  EXCLUSIVE: The initial printing of Hillary Rodham Clinton's “Hard Choices,” …

GOPer Covers Room In Vulgar Words To Make A Point About Sexism (VIDEO)  —  It was clear that Annette Bosworth's Tuesday morning press conference would be unusual when she said it was intended for a “mature audience” only. … It got even more so when the long-shot candidate for U.S. Senate …

Black Republican Congressional Candidate Defends Cliven Bundy  —  “I don't consider Cliven or his wonderful family racist at all,” says Niger Innis.  Period, end of story.  youtube.com  —  A Republican congressional candidate running to represent the district where rancher Cliven Bundy's …

Federal Judge Who Halted Walker Dark Money Criminal Probe Attended Koch-Backed Judicial Junkets  —  The federal judge who ordered a halt to Wisconsin's “John Doe” criminal investigation into spending during the 2011 and 2012 recall elections has regularly attended all-expenses paid …

Major Jewish Group Slams MSNBC Host Toure for Suggesting Holocaust Survivors Benefitted from ‘the Power of Whiteness’  —  A major Jewish organization dedicated to combating anti-Semitism and pursuing Nazi war criminals is criticizing MSNBC host Toure for suggesting that Jewish Holocaust survivors benefitted from being white.

Were Christians Right About Gay Marriage All Along?  —  The marriage equality fight is all but won.  Will the future of marriage be boring as hell, or a Bible-thumper's idea of Sodom and Gomorrah?  —  Same-sex marriage is becoming a national inevitability.

The Brussels mystery: Was shooting anti-Semitism or part of spy games?  —  Considering how professional the shooter looked on footage, and the fact two of those killed were former Israeli civil servants, maybe the attack was actually a battle in the covert war.

Casting the Ideal Challenger to Hillary Clinton  —  Jim Webb, the former Democratic senator from Virginia, stirred the political pot this past week, saying he was considering a presidential run in 2016.  Webb was a moderate when he was in the Senate, and he strikes a different ideological chord …