With Cantor's implosion and Brat's rise, get ready for an even more extreme Republican Party  —  The fight in today's GOP is now between hardline conservatives and radical nihilists  —  There are three key questions to ask and answer about House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's stunning primary defeat Tuesday night.

U.S. Said to Rebuff Iraqi Request to Strike Militants  —  WASHINGTON — As the threat from Sunni militants in western Iraq escalated last month, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki secretly asked the Obama administration to consider carrying out airstrikes against extremist staging areas, according to Iraqi and American officials.

In S.F., Rick Perry compares homosexuality to alcoholism  —  Texas Gov. Rick Perry, speaking in San Francisco on Wednesday night, said the U.S. would better serve its diverse population by letting the states handle many economic and social policies, a point he perhaps inadvertently drove home …

Political Polarization in the American Public  —  How Increasing Ideological Uniformity and Partisan Antipathy Affect Politics, Compromise and Everyday Life  —  Republicans and Democrats are more divided along ideological lines - and partisan antipathy is deeper and more extensive - than at any point in the last two decades.

95% of Minnesotans now have health insurance  —  Percentage without health plan is 2nd-lowest in U.S.  —  The percentage of uninsured Minnesotans has dropped to the lowest level in state history, and the second-lowest level in the nation, following the end of enrollments under the Affordable Care Act.

Five Major Cases The Supreme Court Will Decide This Month  —  The Supreme Court has already delivered major rulings this year on campaign finance and prayer in public meetings.  By the end of June, the Court is expected to hand down several more important decisions that could dramatically alter the law and affect Americans' lives.

A closer look: How many school shootings since Newtown?  —  (CNN) — After Tuesday's shooting at an Oregon high school, many media outlets, including CNN, reported that there have been 74 school shootings in the past 18 months.  —  That's the time period since the December 2012 massacre …

West Virginia Hospital Fundraises With Gun Raffle  —  A West Virginia hospital plans to raffle off a set of firearms later this month in an effort to raise funds to construct a new hospital facility.  —  Preston Memorial Hospital in Kingswood, W.V. advertises a “community BBQ and firearm fundraiser” …

US spy agencies heard Benghazi attackers using State Dept. cell phones to call terrorist leaders  —  Sept. 11, 2012: The U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is seen in flames during a terrorist attack.Reuters  —  The terrorists who attacked the U.S. consulate and CIA annex in Benghazi on September 11 …

U.S. Economic Recovery Looks Distant as Growth Lingers  —  WASHINGTON — Recessions are always painful, but the Great Recession that ran from late 2007 to the middle of 2009 may have inflicted a new kind of pain: an era of slower growth.  —  It has been five years since the official end of that severe economic downturn.

Bergdahl's writings reveal a fragile young man  —  Before he became a Taliban prisoner, before he wrote in his journal “I am the lone wolf of deadly nothingness,” before he ever joined the Army, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was discharged from the U.S. Coast Guard for psychological reasons …

Oklahoma Tea Party Candidate Supports Stoning Gay People to Death  —  Given how savagely anti-gay the mainstream Oklahoma Republican party is, it's no surprise that the state's Tea Partiers are so rabidly hateful that they come across more as dark satire than as serious bigots.