Obama Weathers the Wright Storm, Clinton Faces Credibility Problem  —  National Discontent Approaches 20-Year High, Bush Approval at 28%  —  Summary of Findings  —  The videos of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's controversial sermons and Barack Obama's subsequent speech on race and politics …

Analysis: Al-Sadr in trouble, Iraq headed for meltdown  —  (CNN) — The fighting among Shiite militias and government troops in Basra is a glimpse of Iraq's future, and pivotal cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is in deep trouble, according to two CNN correspondents and a CNN military analyst.

EXCLUSIVE: McCain's Foreign Affairs Speech Plagiarizes 1996 Address By Adm. Timothy Ziemer (UPDATED)  —  EXCLUSIVE: McCain's Foreign Affairs Speech 1996 Address By Adm. Timothy Ziemer (UPDATED) … Yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) gave a foreign policy speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.

Obama: Beware 'you're on your own' society  —  GREENSBORO, N.C. — Presidential candidate Barack Obama, largely ignoring his Democratic rival for now, ridiculed likely Republican nominee John McCain on Wednesday for offering “not one single idea” to help hard-pressed homeowners facing foreclosure.

Hillary vows: We're going all the way to the convention; Update: Hillary questions the legitimacy of Obama's nomination  —  Good lord.  Even I find her ruthlessness here creepy, and I'm pulling for her.  I'm giving you the second clip mostly for the smug look on her face after she delivers her bone-chilling …

AND THERE HE HO'S AGAIN  —  ‘WICKED’ SPITZER LINKED TO BUSTY BUSTED MADAM'S BIZ  —  Disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been identified as a long-standing client of a second high-priced call-girl ring, The Post has learned.  —  The ex-governor regularly patronized Wicked Models …

FIRST THOUGHTS: MYTH BUSTER  —  From Chuck Todd and Domenico Montanaro  —  *** Myth buster: Pollster Peter Hart calls the NBC/WSJ poll a “myth buster” survey; it really breaks down a lot of the myths we've been hearing over the last week like: (1) that the Wright controversy was the beginning …

Siegelman to be released from prison Friday  —  MONTGOMERY — A federal appellate court today ordered former Gov. Don Siegelman released from prison while he appeals his 2006 conviction, saying there are “substantial questions” about his case.  —  Siegelman attorney Vince Kilborn said Siegelman …

Fitna has arrived  —  Readers are sending the Liveleak English version of Geert Wilders' Fitna, which has just been posted.  (Be patient, may be a little slow to load.)  It's 15 minutes with scenes of jihad interlaced with quotes from the Koran.  —  The film ends not with any blasphemous image …

Silly Season  —  Unlike Barack Obama, Bill Clinton does not believe in “the fierce urgency of now.”  The former President has an exquisitely languid sense of how political time unfurls.  He understands that those moments the political community, especially the media, considers urgent usually aren't.

No death for Mumia Abu-Jamal — at least for now  —  A federal appeals court today refused to reinstate the death sentence of world-famous death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, but left intact his murder conviction in the 1981 shooting death of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner.

Democratic Donors Send $24 Million Letter to Pelosi  —  Major fundraisers, who support Hillary Clinton, urge the Speaker of the House not to meddle with superdelegate votes—and millions of dollars are behind their message.  —  Prominent backers of Hillary Clinton sent a multi-million-dollar message …

Supplier Under Scrutiny on Aging Arms for Afghans  —  Since 2006, when the insurgency in Afghanistan sharply intensified, the Afghan government has been dependent on American logistics and military support in the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.  —  But to arm the Afghan forces …

The Education of a 9/11 Reporter  —  THE INSIDE DRAMA BEHIND THE TIMES' WARRANTLESS WIRETAPPING STORY. … For 13 long months, we'd held off on publicizing one of the Bush administration's biggest secrets.  Finally, one afternoon in December 2005, as my editors and I waited anxiously …

Obama on ‘Renewing the American Economy’  —  Following is the transcript of Barack Obama's economic speech at Cooper Union in New York, as provided by CQ Transcriptions Inc.  —  Thank you so much for being here.  —  Let me begin by thanking Dr. Drucker and Cooper Union for hosting us here today.

Olbermann Counting Up...Happy At Last  —  Five years later, Keith “Take This Job and Shove It” Olbermann is still — dare we say it? — happy at MSNBC.  —  In fact, when Olbermann marks the milestone with a special Countdown on NBC Sunday, he will be just six months away from breaking …

Obama: No fan of retirement saving  —  A key feature of the U.S. tax system is the option to put some income into tax-deferred savings accounts, such as IRAs and 401(k) plans.  These accounts make the tax system a bit like a consumption tax rather than a true income tax in the sense …