The Sleight-of-Hand Convention  —  Joe Biden delivered the best speech in a half-century political career on Thursday night.  It was interesting to contrast his delivery with Kamala Harris's 24 hours earlier.  Both the presidential and vice-presidential nominee spoke to an empty hall.

‘Pure, unvarnished, courage’: A 13-year-old ‘regular kid’ with a stutter gave a must-watch Democratic convention speech  —  Twenty seconds into his speech to the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, Brayden Harrington started to stutter.  —  He knew he would — it was the reason …

Mnuchin's role in postmaster's appointment becomes target  —  WASHINGTON — In the weeks before Republican donor Louis DeJoy was installed as postmaster general, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held a series of one-on-one meetings with members of the Postal Service Board of Governors …

The Republican Embrace of QAnon Goes Far Beyond Trump  —  As the president all but endorses the internet-driven conspiracy theory, it is shifting from the fringes of the internet to become an offline political movement.  —  Late last month, as the Texas Republican Party was shifting into campaign mode …

Trump pledges to send ‘sheriffs’ and ‘law enforcement’ to polling places on Election Day, but it's not clear he can  —  Trump slams mail-in voting while signing his mail-in ballot  —  (CNN)President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would send law enforcement officials to polling locations …

The End of Steve Bannon—And Maybe Trump, Too  —  Steve Bannon's arrest on charges that he defrauded donors to a right-wing immigration group for $1 million marks the end of a political era—the era when a Trumpian admixture of economic populism and nativist immigration policy looked as if it could …

‘Are you really going to impeach me?’:  How the Ukraine bombshell unfolded over 48 hours and laid bare Trump's fixation with Biden  —  This article is adapted from “Trump on Trial” by Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan, which will be published Aug. 25 by Scribner.

Facebook Braces Itself for Trump to Cast Doubt on Election Results  —  The world's biggest social network is working out what steps to take should President Trump use its platform to dispute the vote.  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook spent years preparing to ward off any tampering on its site ahead of November's presidential election.

Citing threats, Mayor Lori Lightfoot defends ban on protesters on her block: ‘I have a right to make sure that my home is secure’  —  Mayor Lori Lightfoot defended the Chicago Police Department's ban on protesters being able to demonstrate on the block where she lives, telling reporters Thursday …

Hard evidence at last that shreds Trump's lies about a Russia ‘hoax’  —  As Democrats accelerate their drive to defeat President Trump in November, they have a potent new weapon in a report by a Republican-led Senate committee that chronicles the “grave counterintelligence threat” …

The permanent outsider  —  President Trump has no idea how to run for reelection as an incumbent  —  At a White House signing ceremony this month, President Trump lamented the “deep-swamp things happening” in the nation's “deep state.”  Speaking to workers at a Whirlpool plant in Ohio a few days later …

In watching some of the Democratic National Convention on television this week, it has been interesting to see the absence of God.  I don't believe America's finest hours will be in front of us if we take God out of government and public life.  It is God who set the standards we are to live by.