Before Shooting in Iraq, a Warning on Blackwater  —  WASHINGTON — Just weeks before Blackwater guards fatally shot 17 civilians at Baghdad's Nisour Square in 2007, the State Department began investigating the security contractor's operations in Iraq.  But the inquiry was abandoned …

Charlatans, Cranks and Kansas  —  Two years ago Kansas embarked on a remarkable fiscal experiment: It sharply slashed income taxes without any clear idea of what would replace the lost revenue.  Sam Brownback, the governor, proposed the legislation — in percentage terms …

Why We Can't Talk About Gun Control  —  When one writer suggested that guns can be regulated without anyone's rights being infringed, he lost his job.  Dick Metcalf told his story this morning to a skeptical crowd.  —  ASPEN, Colo. — “I pose this question, Mr. Metcalf, as a hunter of birds.

IRS staredown not going away  —  A top GOP investigator and former IRS official Lois Lerner's lawyer squared off on Sunday, underscoring that the battle over the agency's improper scrutiny of Tea Party groups isn't going anywhere this election year.  —  House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa …

How Hillary Won Over the Skeptical Left  —  The surprising source of Clinton's invincibility  —  Jay Brown is a blunt-talking doctor from Ames, Iowa, the kind of guy who believes the biggest threats to the republic are the Koch brothers, Rupert Murdoch, and the corporatization of politics.

A kinder, gentler turn to the gender wars?  Column  —  Men and women need to discuss gender issues.  One can't hear what the other doesn't say.  —  Are we coming to a truce in the gender wars?  Or just opening a second front?  Or, perhaps, actually starting to talk to each other?

Barack Obama taps ex-Procter and Gamble exec Robert McDonald to lead VA  —  President Barack Obama plans to nominate former Procter and Gamble executive Robert McDonald to lead the embattled Department of Veterans Affairs, which has been plagued by long waits for treatment, a White House official said Sunday.

Bush Campaign Advisor: Sending Troops Into Iraq Was A Huge Mistake The First Time  —  Matthew Dowd, the former chief strategist for the Bush-Cheney '04 presidential campaign, said that it was a mistake America got involved in fighting in Iraq the first time.

Americans Losing Confidence in All Branches of U.S. Gov't  —  Confidence hits six-year low for presidency; record lows for Supreme Court, Congress  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' confidence in all three branches of the U.S. government has fallen, reaching record lows for the Supreme Court …

New N.S.A. Chief Calls Damage From Snowden Leaks Manageable  —  FORT MEADE, Md. — The newly installed director of the National Security Agency says that while he has seen some terrorist groups alter their communications to avoid surveillance techniques revealed by Edward J. Snowden …

Bobby Jindal Courts Religious Right With His Eye On 2016  —  “The groups that are more and more picked on in society are evangelical Christians,” Louisiana's governor tells BuzzFeed.  Is the future of social conservatism in Baton Rouge?  —  John Gara  —  BATON ROUGE, La. …

The long road to John Boehner's lawsuit against Obama  —  CONGRESS BARACK OBAMA OBAMACARE SENATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES REPUBLICAN PARTY JOHN BOEHNER NANCY PELOSI PENNAVE STENY HOYER TREY GOWDY PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEES PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTEES CONSTITUTION  —  House Speaker John Boehner …

Every way the Supreme Court could rule in Hobby Lobby  —  Monday's the day.  That's when the suspense of the most-watched Supreme Court case this term is expected to abate.  In the case, known as Hobby Lobby for short, the justices should finally settle whether a corporation can be religious and …

Rove blasts Obama's executive actions: ‘This is imperial power’  —  Karl Rove, a former White House adviser to President George W. Bush, said Sunday that President Obama takes greater liberties with his executive power than his predecessor did.  —  Speaking to “Fox News Sunday,” …