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.

San Antonio postal union leader describes mass delays, says Postal Service hid backlogged mail from congressman  —  The union leader said tens of thousands of pieces of mail were carted away ahead of U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro's visit.  The office's delays have been exacerbated by employees missing because of COVID-19 concerns.

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 …

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 …

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 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 …

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.

‘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.

DNC's audacity of hope was that America is really empathetic and good  —  With a heaping side of Rhode Island calamari, the Democratic Party squeezed lemonade from the lemon of their pandemic-reduced, all-virtual 2020 convention with an often compelling and occasionally stunning message …

Judge Green-Lights Probe of Trump Tax Returns in NY  —  MANHATTAN (CN) — Describing the White House's expansive view of executive power as dangerous to democracy, a federal judge on Thursday rejected President Donald Trump's second attempt to scuttle the probe of his finances in New York.

Inside the Completely Nutso Universe of QAnon  —  An explainer for the conspiracy theory that's taking over the GOP.  —  The deranged QAnon conspiracy theory movement came close to a presidential endorsement this week when Donald Trump praised the group as “people that love our country,” …

Robert Trump funeral to be held at White House Friday  —  Trump shares emotional post after his brother's death  —  (CNN)A funeral service for President Donald Trump's brother, Robert Trump, will be held Friday afternoon at the White House, a White House official told CNN.

Biden is already forming a government.  Here's what his Cabinet could look like.  —  Sherrod Brown, the progressive senator from Ohio, says he's talking with the Biden campaign about “where he needs to look and who he needs to look at” as he begins to form a potential administration.

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.

Trump says he ‘listens better to African Americans’ than Martin Luther King III  —  Exclusive: Recording obtained by The Independent reveals how Trump alienated civil rights leaders during ‘the most disastrous outreach meeting in the history of presidential transitions’

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” …