Manafort plea is new proof that Mueller is Trump's worst nightmare.  He's on to him.  —  Trump never expected Manafort to flip on him.  The plea and cooperation agreement Mueller won proves that truth is truth, whatever Rudy Giuliani says.  —  It's tempting to view Paul Manafort's guilty plea …

Fraying Ties With Trump Put Mattis's Fate in Doubt  —  WASHINGTON — Back when their relationship was fresh and new, and President Trump still called his defense secretary “Mad Dog” — a nickname Jim Mattis detests — the wiry retired Marine general often took a dinner break to eat burgers with his boss in the White House residence.

Our System Is Too Broken to Assess the Sexual Assault Claim Against Kavanaugh  —  This, then, was the fatal flaw of #MeToo: We thought that patriarchal systems, based in entrenched power, and supported by others in power, could be brought down by individual, brave women.  —  Why don't women come forward?

Florence by the numbers: 7 dead, more than 900K without power, strongest wind gust in 60 years hits Wilmington  —  Hurricane Florence is slamming into the East Coast, knocking out power in North Carolina, dropping torrential rains and inundating several areas with floodwater.

Les Wexner renounces Republican Party affiliation after Obama stops in Columbus  —  After former Democratic President Barack Obama made a quiet stop in Columbus on Thursday night, the wealthiest Republican supporter in the state told a small audience at a Downtown event that he is fed up and has quit the Republican Party.

FEMA to test ‘Presidential Alert’ system next week  —  Experts expressed little concern that the wireless emergency alerts could be used for political purposes.  —  President Donald Trump may soon be communicating with you directly on your phone — even if you don't follow him on Twitter.

Are Women Penalized More Than Men in Tennis?  Data Says No  —  Serena Williams argued that she was subject to a double standard when she was cited for verbal abuse by the chair umpire Carlos Ramos during the United States Open women's final last Saturday.  —  “There are men out here who do a lot worse …

Arizona Senate: Kyrsten Sinema's anti-war group blasted ‘U.S. terror,’ depicted soldier as skeleton in 2003 flyers  —  (CNN)As an anti-war activist in the early 2000s, Arizona Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema led a group that distributed flyers depicting an American soldier as a skeleton inflicting …

A private letter from Ronald Reagan to his dying father-in-law shows the president's faith  —  Something tugged at Ronald Reagan on that otherwise slow August weekend in 1982.  —  “Again at the W.H.,” the president noted in his diary.  “More of Saturdays work plus a long letter I have to write to Loyal.

Democrats may have more polling upside in House races than GOP  —  Poll: Dems have advantage with likely voters  —  (CNN)First things first: The theme song of the week is Roundball Rock by John Tesh from the NBA on NBC.  —  Poll of the week: The New York Times and Siena College have released multiple House polls over the last week.

Why Did the New York Review of Books Publish That Jian Ghomeshi Essay?  —  Well before the world associated the phrase #MeToo with sexual assault, Jian Ghomeshi was a popular Canadian radio host and musician.  In 2014 and 2015, however, he became the subject of numerous allegations of sexual assault …

BREAKING: James O'Keefe Teases Next Week's Hit — DEEP STATE SHOULD BE WORRIED!  —  Phyllis Schlafly's Gateway Eagle Council XLVIIstarts today in St. Louis, Missouri, Sept. 13-16.  —  This year The Gateway Pundit, one of the most influential conservative websites in US politics …

Julia Salazar, the Left's Post-Truth Politician  —  The democratic socialist lied.  And lied.  And lied.  Then she won handily in Brooklyn.  —  Ms. Weiss is a staff writer and editor for the Opinion section.  — Sept. 14, 2018  —  According to The Washington Post's running count …

2020 Dems: Rebels v. restorationists  —  The most telling split among 2020 Democratic hopefuls won't be over policy, but whether to match President Trump's scorched-earth tactics, top Democrats tell Jonathan Swan and me.  —  “The key question is: How crazy will Trump make us?” asked a veteran of Democratic presidential campaigns.

After Trump's tweets on Hurricane Maria, Hispanic Caucus chair declines invitation to the White House  —  Hispanic Heritage Month starts Saturday, and the White House will have to kick off the celebration without the presence of some Latino lawmakers.  And according to them, it is President Trump's own doing.

Texas board votes to eliminate Hillary Clinton, Helen Keller from history curriculum  —  Updated at 11:30 a.m. to include the board's vote, at 1:20 p.m. with comment from board member Barbara Cargill and House Democratic Caucus Chairman Chris Turner and at 4:10 p.m. with comment from a Christian advocacy organization.

Deficit hawks are dead, and few in Washington can muster any outrage  —  The deficit hawks are dead.  —  Their demise technically came Tuesday when the Congressional Budget Office calculated the federal deficit at $895 billion for the first 11 months of fiscal 2018 — a stunning gap …