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Trump's Running Mate Dismisses Twitter's Influence on Election

"… All the tweets in the world don't matter a hill of beans …"

8:37 PM, Aug 17, 2016

By Chris Deaton

Mike Pence said Wednesday that Twitter doesn’t "matter a hill of beans" in shaping voters' preferences for the presidential candidates, even as the man for whom he's campaigning has used the social media utility to dictate news cycles—often to his detriment—since entering the race last year. Read more

Does the Trump Campaign Realize It's Losing?

Meet Baghdad Michael Cohen.

7:25 PM, Aug 17, 2016

By Michael Warren

As George Costanza once said, it's not a lie if you believe it. He might have said the same of political spin. It's not clear whether Michael Cohen, an executive vice president with the Trump Organization and a surrogate for the Donald Trump campaign, believes his latest spin on the increasingly poor outlook for the Republican nominee. Read more

Report: $400 Million Iran Payment Was Delayed Until Hostages Were Released

6:34 PM, Aug 17, 2016

By Jenna Lifhits

The U.S. delayed delivering a controversial $400 million payment to Iran until American hostages held there were “wheels up," The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The revelation adds to mounting criticism that the Obama administration's January payment was for ransom. Read more

Hezbollah's Strategy in Syria Won't Help Against Israel

There's no matching the IDF.

5:31 PM, Aug 17, 2016

By David Daoud

Over the last three years of the Syrian Civil War, Hezbollah has increasingly operated as a regular army rather than in its traditional, decades-long role as a guerrilla force. The Shiite group has operated Syrian tanks and artillery, jeeps with recoilless rifles, and is even rumored to have acquired its own 75-tank armored brigade. As a result, some pundits have begun suggesting that Hezbollah has transformed into “an army in every respect," as Haaretz columnist Amos Harel has written. Others, like Foreign Policy's Nour Samaha, have suggested that "Israel may have reason to be concerned," that Hezbollah will "transfer the skills learned in Syria to any future confrontation with Israel," and fight the IDF as a conventional army. Read more

Mainstream Frat Shaming

Neidermeyer, is that you?

4:20 PM, Aug 17, 2016

By Alice B. Lloyd

For proof positive that nobody has fun anymore, look no further than this instance of frat shaming out of New Hampshire. Read more

Putin Replaces Confidant with Government Cog as Top Aide

3:54 PM, Aug 17, 2016

By Jenna Lifhits

With bureaucrats like this, Vladimir Putin doesn’t need friends. Read more

Why Would Trump Aide Paul Manafort Rip Off a Russian Mobster?

Manafort deal looks like a textbook example of Russian money laundering.

2:12 PM, Aug 17, 2016

By Mark Hemingway

Why would he seemingly be so foolish as to rob a mobster of millions of dollars? Read more

In Campaign Shake-Up, The Donald Pivots From 'Trump' To 'MORE Trump'

Hosted by Michael Graham.

1:40 PM, Aug 17, 2016

By TWS PODCAST

The WEEKLY STANDARD Podcast with online editor Michael Warren on Donald Trump's pivot... to more Trump. Read more

Trump Has Decided To Live in Breitbart's Alternative Reality

The only place more Trumpian than Trump.

1:05 PM, Aug 17, 2016

By Stephen F. Hayes

Eleven weeks before the general election, with polls showing Donald Trump staring at a potential electoral rout, the New York businessman decisively ended speculation that he would “pivot" to end the race a more "presidential" candidate by naming Stephen Bannon, chairman of Breitbart News, as the campaign's new chief executive. Read more

KRISTOL: 'Breitbart' Should Change Its Name

Pro-Trump outlet doesn't reflect Andrew Breitbart's legacy.

1:00 PM, Aug 17, 2016

By Jenna Lifhits

THE WEEKLY STANDARD editor Bill Kristol lamented the fall of Breitbart News Wednesday in the wake of Breitbart chairman Stephen Bannon's appointment as chief executive for the Trump campaign. Read more

Explaining the Trump Campaign's Missing Millions

11:56 AM, Aug 17, 2016

By Mark Hemingway

On Monday, I wrote about questions surrounding the Trump campaign's finances. Specifically, a Huffington Post report was circulating noting that the topline FEC numbers suggested that the Trump campaign burned through $63 million last month. I contacted the Trump campaign, which offered no comment on that spending figure. Read more

Trump Campaign Chief Manafort Linked to Millions in Illegal Ukrainian Payments

10:40 AM, Aug 17, 2016

By Mark Hemingway

Earlier this year, Michael Warren wrote about Paul Manafort's involvement with the Trump campaign. From the outset, there were questions about his lobbying for foreign strongmen, particularly his involvement with Viktor Yanukovych and Russian interests in Ukraine. "Manafort was instrumental in remaking Yanukovych's image into that of a pragmatic businessman who could bring order to a divided country (sound familiar?) ahead of Ukraine's 2010 election," wrote Warren. However, while it was long suspected, evidence is now emerging that Manafort's efforts in Ukraine went well beyond simple political consulting. Read more

KRISTOL: Trump Can't Pivot

"What does a pivot mean when you're a man like Donald Trump?"

10:15 AM, Aug 17, 2016

By Jim Swift

Tuesday night on CNN's Erin Burnett Out Front, editor William Kristol discussed the news that Donald Trump refuses to pivot towards a traditional presidential campaign. Read more

Breitbart News Head Is Now Campaign CEO in Trump Team Shakeup

Paul Manafort is out, Stephen Bannon is in.

9:34 AM, Aug 17, 2016

By Michael Warren

The chairman of the right-wing news and opinion website Breitbart is now effectively in charge of the Donald Trump presidential campaign. Read more

Prufrock: The Attack on Free Speech, Rejecting Western Civilization, and the End of Democracy

9:30 AM, Aug 17, 2016

By Micah Mattix

The best in books and arts from around the web, including: Mark Twain in Heidelberg, Adam Kirsch on Lara Vapnyar’s Still Here, and more. Read more

North Korea's Defecting Diplomats

Deputy ambassador to Great Britain makes a great escape.

8:04 AM, Aug 17, 2016

By Ethan Epstein

So there is a reason for countries to host North Korean embassies after all. Sure, rather than the spade work of actual diplomacy, North Korea's "diplomats" use their embassies to export counterfeit cash, go on illegal shopping sprees for their leader, and issue terrifying threats against defectors. But it turns out that the embassies have at least one salutary function: They can serve as an escape hatch for elites determined to flee the regime. Read more

Kristol: 'Hillary Has Paid a Huge Price' for Her Email Scandal

10:35 PM, Aug 16, 2016

By Jim Swift

On CNN's Erin Burnett Out Front, editor William Kristol discussed Hillary Clinton's email scandal and how it has hurt her campaign.

Burnett asked given the revelation that the FBI will be releasing its classified notes to Congress, whether or not further releases of Hillary's emails could help her campaign.

Read more

The Man Who Created Political TV Out of Nothing

Freddy the Beadle Barnes remembers John McLaughlin.

7:32 PM, Aug 16, 2016

By Fred Barnes

John McLaughlin was a Jesuit priest, unsuccessful Senate candidate in Rhode Island, and White House aide to Richard Nixon. But he won’t be remembered for any of that because he did something a lot bigger. He changed TV political commentary and made it faster, funnier, and far more watchable—in other words, a whole lot better. Read more

FBI Sends Clinton Investigative Report to Congress

5:41 PM, Aug 16, 2016

By Chris Deaton

The FBI has sent investigative materials into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server to Capitol Hill, including notes from the Bureau's interview with Clinton, it was reported Tuesday. Read more

Report: Washington Post Op-Ed Writer Failed To Disclose Ties To Iran Deal 'Echo Chamber'

4:37 PM, Aug 16, 2016

By Jenna Lifhits

A professor who penned an op-ed in the Washington Post arguing for the Obama administration's $400 million payment to Iran did not disclose his ties to a group that paid experts to advocate for the Iran deal in the public sphere, the Washington Free Beacon reported Tuesday. Read more

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