I will dispense for now from discussion of the moral character of the president's Charlottesville statements.  Whether he intended to or not, what he communicated caused racists to rejoice, minorities to weep, and the vast heart of America to mourn.  His apologists strain to explain that he didn't mean what we heard.

Taney statue removed from Md. state house grounds overnight  —  Workers dismantled a 145-year-old statue of Supreme Court Justice Roger B. Taney outside the Maryland State House shortly after midnight Friday, the latest ripple effect from last weekend's deadly violence at a rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville.

James Murdoch, Rebuking Trump, Pledges $1 Million to Anti-Defamation League  —  BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — James Murdoch, the chief executive of 21st Century Fox and the son of a frequent ally of President Trump's, condemned the president's performance after the violence in Charlottesville, Va. …

White House review nears end: Officials expect Bannon firing  —  A decision is imminent from White House chief of staff John Kelly on whether Steve Bannon will keep his job, according to administration officials with knowledge of the situation:  — Bannon, who has run afoul of Trump in the past …

Members of White House presidential arts commission resigning to protest Trump's comments  —  The remaining members of a presidential arts and humanities panel resigned on Friday in yet another sign of growing national protest of President Trump's recent comments on the violence in Charlottesville.

ACLU Will No Longer Defend Hate Groups Protesting With Firearms  —  Executive director says violence and guns at Charlottesville rally spurred new stance  —  The American Civil Liberties Union, taking a tougher stance on armed protests, will no longer defend hate groups seeking to march with firearms …

The Party of Trump  —  Column: America's new, combustible four-party system  —  On July 18, 2015, about a month into his long-shot campaign for president, Donald Trump famously attacked John McCain.  “He's not a war hero,” he said.  “He was a war hero because he was captured.

MSNBC Ranks as No. 1 Cable Network in Total Viewers for First Time Ever  —  MSNBC ranked as the number one network across all of cable in total viewers for the first time in its history, according to Nielsen data.  —  For Wednesday, Aug. 16, MSNBC averaged 1.52 million viewers for the total …

The agonizing, 8-page memo on how to chauffeur a congressman  —  Empty his trash.  Always have hand sanitizer and gum at the ready.  And don't bother with “unnecessary conversation” — the congressman doesn't have time for your chitchat.  —  Demanding, high-maintenance bosses are notorious on Capitol Hill.

Private prison industry sees boon under Trump administration  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  —  Washington (CNN)The private prison industry — one of the most controversial pieces of the US carceral state — has essentially recovered a year after the Obama administration sent a chill down its spine.

‘Antifa’ Grows as Left-Wing Faction Set to, Literally, Fight the Far Right  —  OAKLAND, Calif. — Last weekend, when a 27-year-old bike messenger showed up at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., he came ready for battle.  He joined a human chain that stretched in front …

Op-Ed Speech in America is fast, cheap and out of control  —  Alex Jones from infowars.com speaks during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio on July 18, 2016.  (David Swanson / TNS)  —  The Internet and social media did not create white supremacist movements in the United States …

Art of the Deal Writer Says Trump Will Resign Before Year's End: Reminds Me of ‘Last Days of Nixon’  —  Author Tony Schwartz spent 18 months with Donald Trump putting together The Art of the Deal — Trump's best-selling book.  And having spent so much time with the man who is now President …

Cleveland Clinic Will Pull Event From Trump's Mar-a-Lago Resort  —  THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (BERNARD CONDON, JULIE CARR SMYTH and TERRY SPENCER)  —  Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump's comments about the white nationalist rally last weekend are hurting not just his political standing, but his pocketbook.

Seattle's mayor: Lenin statue needs to come down … SEATTLE — Seattle's mayor wants Fremont's privately owned Lenin statue taken down, likening it to Confederate monuments as a symbol of “hate, racism and violence.”  —  A day after a small group led by conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec called …

As Trump mulls Afghanistan, a former general and fallen Marine's father at his side  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  —  Bridgewater, New Jersey (CNN)For months, President Donald Trump has held off a decision on the future of the US military campaign in Afghanistan, rejecting the proposals …

Armed Group Appears at Council to Oppose Statue's Removal  —  The ongoing controversy surrounding the proposed removal of the Confederate monument in Travis Park was at the center of Wednesday evening's citizens to be heard session in City Council Chambers.  —  As speakers addressed Council members …

Evidence of a Toxic Environment for Women in Economics  —  A pathbreaking new study of online conversations among economists describes and quantifies a workplace culture that appears to amount to outright hostility toward women in parts of the economics profession.

Now you can see what Donald Trump sees every time he opens Twitter  —  For all of the work John Kelly has put into his new role as White House chief of staff, instituting new limits on whom President Trump speaks with and what information he sees, Trump has an escape hatch: his phone.

Police: Five suspects killed in Spanish resort hours after Barcelona attack  —  BARCELONA, Spain — Police fatally shot five people wearing fake explosive belts who staged a car attack at a seaside resort in Spain's Catalonia region on Friday, just hours after a van plowed into pedestrians on a busy Barcelona promenade.