The Death of Steven Sotloff  —  In the final moments before an ISIS executioner beheaded the American journalist Steven Sotloff, the masked man offered up, in an English accent, a message to his viewers: “We take this opportunity to warn those governments that enter this evil alliance of America …

Louisiana Marriage Ban Is Constitutional, Federal Judge Rules  —  “The State of Louisiana has a legitimate interest under a rational basis standard of review for addressing the meaning of marriage through the democratic process.”  The first federal court ruling upholding a ban in the past year.

Biden: ISIL will reside in hell  —  Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a fiery response to the killing of American journalist Steven Sotloff, telling Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants that the U.S. will “follow them to the gates of hell.”  —  “[W]hen people harm Americans, we don't retreat.

EXCLUSIVE: ISIS fighter worked at Minneapolis airport  —  He was the second known American killed while fighting for ISIS in Syria, and the second from Minnesota — and a Fox 9 exclusive uncovering his employment history is raising a few eyebrows.  —  An airport is probably the last place anyone …

Phil Robertson's Plan For Combating ISIS: ‘Convert Them Or Kill Them’  —  “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson put forward a strategy Tuesday for combating militants with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria: “convert them or kill them.”  —  Robertson was asked to opine on Fox News' …

Senate control 'on knife's edge'  —  Some $400 million has already been spent in the battle for the Senate.  Yet the record-shattering early money has hardly budged the half-dozen races that will decide the fate of the upper chamber, and two months out from Election Day …

Juvenile court: Michael Brown had no serious felony convictions, did not face felony charges  —  • By Jeremy Kohler jkohler@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8337  —  Updated with more details.  —  CLAYTON  • Michael Brown was never found delinquent of the juvenile equivalents …

Sen. Coburn: Let's change Constitution  —  Sen. Tom Coburn is pushing for a national convention to amend the Constitution.  —  The Oklahoma Republican, who has grown disenchanted with gridlock in Washington, will officially launch his effort after he retires from the Senate in a few months.

New poll says large majority of Americans believe Redskins should not change name  —  (Post Sports Live/The Washington Post)  —  A large but shrinking majority of Americans say the Washington Redskins should not change their team's name, according to a poll released Tuesday finding …

Columbia Student Will Carry a Mattress Everywhere Until Her Alleged Rapist Is Expelled  —  Emma Sulkowicz staged the piece of performance art as a protest against Columbia's handling of her sexual-assault case.  —  1.9k  —  Shares  —  1.8k  —  Emma Sulkowicz says she was raped …

Our Senate model is moving in Democrats' direction all of a sudden.  Why?  —  On July 15, Election Lab, WaPo's election model, gave Republicans an 86 percent chance of winning the six seats they needed to take over the Senate majority.  Today — 50 days later — it gives Republicans only a 52 percent chance of winning the majority.

GW Battleground Poll  —  An overwhelming majority of American voters feels that the nation is on the wrong track and the economy will be a key factor in November's elections, according to the latest George Washington University Battleground Poll.  Read the full press release.  —  Previous Polls

Why so many Christians won't back down on gay marriage  —  A traditional view of marriage is about much more than today's politics.  It's deeply woven into the 2,000-year-old ethic at the heart of our faith.  —  A majority of Americans already favor same-sex marriage …

Spinning Obama's reference to Islamic State as a ‘JV’ team  —  Question: “Did the president underestimate ISIS [the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria] when he referred to them in an interview only a couple months ago as a JV squad and making a reference to National Basketball Association basketball teams like the Lakers?”

Will Textualism Kill Obamacare?  —  The Affordable Care Act is heading for another near-death experience in the Supreme Court.  In July, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a ruling in Halbig v. Burwell that would greatly limit the number of people who are eligible for subsidized health insurance.

Who runs for office?  A profile of the 2%  —  There are 90,107 government units in the U.S. — everything from county governments (3,031) to independent school district governments (12,880), according to 2012 Census Bureau data.  Some governments have appointed officials …