National G.O.P. Moves to Take Over Campaign of Kansas Senator  —  WASHINGTON — National Republicans on Thursday moved to take control of the campaign of Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, a day after his hopes for re-election and those of his party for taking control of the Senate were threatened …

Robert McDonnell guilty of 11 corruption counts  —  RICHMOND — A federal jury Thursday found former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, guilty of public corruption — sending a message that they believed the couple sold the office once occupied by Patrick Henry …

BREAKING: Federal Appeals Court Withdraws Decision Defunding Obamacare  —  In July, two Republican judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit handed down a decision defunding much of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  This effort to implement Sen. Ted Cruz's …

Joan Rivers, a Comedic Stiletto, Dies at 81  —  Joan Rivers, the raspy loudmouth who pounced on America's obsessions with flab, face-lifts, body hair and other blemishes of neurotic life, including her own, in five decades of caustic comedy that propelled her from nightclubs to television …

Warren: Destroying ISIS should be ‘No. 1 priority’  —  Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Wednesday said that the Obama administration should make defeating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) its top priority.  —  “ISIS is growing in strength.  It has money, it has organization, it has the capacity to inflict real damage.

Rand Paul: ‘I Am Not an Isolationist’  —  If I had been in President Obama's shoes, I would have acted more decisively and strongly against ISIS  —  Some pundits are surprised that I support destroying the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) militarily.  They shouldn't be.

Breaking News and Analysis: Federal Court Grants Injunction Restoring Early Voting in Ohio  —  I have now had a chance to give an initial read the 71-page federal district court opinion in Ohio State Conference of the NAACP v. Husted.  This is a significant case, which could potentially make it to the Supreme Court.

Huffington Post hires 9/11 truther to cover national security  —  The Huffington Post's Washington bureau has hired professional football player and 9/11 truther Donte Stallworth as a fellow, covering national security.  —  Stallworth, a wide receiver in the NFL since 2002 …

Pursuing ISIS to the Gates of Hell  —  Over the past two weeks, the American foreign-policy debate has dramatically changed.  The key to understanding why lies in a book.  —  The book is called Special Providence.  Published 13 years ago by Walter Russell Mead, it remains, for my money …

Blood cotton  —  The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism.  By Edward Baptist.  Basic Books; 498 pages; $35.  Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.com  —  “FOR sale: a coloured girl, of very superior qualifications...a bright mulatto, fine figure, straight …

Delaware Guv ‘Inadvertently’ Tweeted Photo Of Woman In Bondage Gear  —  Delaware Gov. Jack Markell (D) tweeted Thursday that his staff was “looking into” how an “inappropriate” photo of a woman in bondage gear was sent out from his Twitter account.  —  The tweet, which promoted …

Hacker Breached HealthCare.gov Insurance Site  —  A hacker broke into the HealthCare.gov insurance enrollment website in July and uploaded malicious software, but there was no evidence consumers' personal data was taken.

Reports of missing Libyan planes raise 9/11 terror fears  —  Reports that 11 commercial jetliners are missing from the main airport in Libya's capital of Tripoli are raising fears that militants could use them in terrorist attacks to mark the 13th anniversary of 9/11 next week.

Has Greenwald, Inc. peaked?  —  Thanks to Ed Snowden, Glenn Greenwald went from blogging to the big time.  But his stock may be dropping fast.  —  For about a year, the global enterprise you might call Glenn Greenwald, Inc. has been taking off like a red-hot app.

Armed border militia confronts conservationists counting bats  —  TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - It was a case of mistaken identity that, authorities say, could have gone very wrong.  —  Authorities say, apparently, a group of heavily-armed border militia members mistook conservationists researching bats …

An Old Contempt in Rotherham  —  What is saddest about the mass sexual exploitation of children in the town of Rotherham, in the North of England, is that it happened at all.  But what is most infuriating is that, despite numerous alerts from social workers and at least three independent investigations …