Poll: Amid Kavanaugh Confirmation Battle, Democratic Enthusiasm Edge Evaporates  —  Just over a month away from critical elections across the country, the wide Democratic enthusiasm advantage that has defined the 2018 campaign up to this point has disappeared, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.

QAnoners Cheer Trump's Text Alert Test, See It As a Step Towards Martial Law  —  ‘That is how we will receive orders if all else fails.’  —  Phones across the country buzzed Wednesday afternoon for the first national test of FEMA's presidential-level emergency alert system.

Christine Blasey Ford's changing Kavanaugh assault story leaves her short on credibility  —  Put aside Christine Blasey Ford's emotional performance.  Her testimony revealed her as a witness whose memories change at her convenience.  —  CONNECT  —  When Christine Blasey Ford testified …

How Times Journalists Uncovered the Original Source of the President's Wealth  —  Three reporters spent over a year digging through more than 100,000 pages of documents and chasing down key sources familiar with President Trump's father and his empire.  —  Times Insider delivers behind …

House Rating Changes: Eight More GOP Seats Move Towards Democrats  —  Five weeks out, several personally popular Republicans who appeared to be defying the “blue wave” in Clinton-won districts are beginning to see their leads erode.  GOP Reps. Carlos Curbelo (FL-26), John Katko (NY-24) …

The Meritocracy Against Itself  —  How Ivy League resentments took over the Kavanaugh debate.  —  A week ago, Elizabeth Bruenig of The Washington Post wrote a column about the dreadful feeling of being yanked back, thanks to the allegations of teenage sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh …

Suspect in custody, situation over after 3 Florence Co. deputies, 2 city officers shot in Florence  —  FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) - Five law enforcement officers have been shot in Florence and a suspect is now in custody.  —  Florence County Emergency Management officials said on Facebook around 6 p.m …

The Cruelty Is the Point  —  The Museum of African-American History and Culture is in part a catalogue of cruelty.  Amid all the stories of perseverance, tragedy, and unlikely triumph, there are the artifacts of inhumanity and barbarism: the child-size slave shackles, the bright red robes …

I stepped down as U.S. ambassador to Estonia.  Here's why.  —  James D. Melville Jr. is a former member of the U.S. Foreign Service who served as ambassador to Estonia from 2015 until his resignation in July.  —  When you serve as U.S. ambassador to a foreign capital, you represent your country, of course.

Academic Grievance Studies and the Corruption of Scholarship  —  This essay, although hopefully accessible to everyone, is the most thorough breakdown of the study and written for those who are already somewhat familiar with the problems of ideologically-motivated scholarship, radical skepticism and cultural constructivism.

This Ohio Woman's Run-In With The FBI Gives Us A Window Into Robert Mueller's Trump-Russia Probe  —  WASHINGTON — Cassandra Ford tends to stay online late into the evening and then sleep in.  So when two FBI agents dispatched by special counsel Robert Mueller's office pounded on her boyfriend's door …

Trump's claims about his drinking are ‘bogus baloney,’ Sen. Leahy says  —  The longest-serving U.S. senator found himself under sudden attack from President Trump on Tuesday night, and hours later, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) remained bewildered by the whole thing.

Fox News Poll: Republicans make gains in top Senate races  —  A new round of Fox News battleground polls shows a Republican trend in the fight for the U.S. Senate.  The GOP candidates are helped by increased interest in the election among Republicans and pro-Donald Trump sentiment.

Federal Anti-Discrimination Official Under Fire for Racial Comments  —  The federal official in charge of enforcing fair-lending laws that are intended to prevent discrimination is facing criticism for a series of racially provocative comments spanning the last 14 years.

Chris Christie on early Trump problems: ‘I probably could have prevented 75 percent of them’  —  Chris Christie, 56, is the former governor of New Jersey and was a Republican candidate for president in the 2016 primary elections.  —  Corey Lewandowski recently said that President Trump got off …