Obama May Not Have Fully Contained Damage From Ex-Pastor  —  Sen. Barack Obama's Philadelphia speech on race relations last month seemed to put the controversial remarks of his former pastor behind him.  But three weeks later, there is evidence of lingering damage.

Iraq and Its Costs  —  When Gen. David Petraeus testifies before Congress tomorrow, he will step into an American political landscape dramatically different from the one he faced when he last spoke on Capitol Hill seven months ago.  —  This time Gen. Petraeus returns to Washington having led …

Ex-Clinton Insider Launches Unity Ticket Drive  —  Hillary/Obama '08 becomes official today.  In a way.  —  A Clinton insider who served as ex campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle's executive assistant for several years has set up a new website, http://www.voteboth.com/ and plans to register with the Federal Election Commission today.

If the system made sense, Clinton would be far ahead  —  Under a winner-take-all primary system, Hillary Clinton would have a wide lead over Barack Obama — and enough delegates to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination by June.  —  Hillary Clinton celebrates with supporters …

No Really, You Should Go  —  Wretched rationalizations for Hillary Clinton's kamikaze campaign.  —  Last week, Senator Pat Leahy suggested that Hillary Clinton ought to quit the presidential race.  How insensitive!  How boorish!  Pundits gasped, Clinton took umbrage …

RICE BIDS TO BE VP: GOPER  —  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been “campaigning” to be John McCain's running mate, a former Bush administration aide said yesterday.  —  Rice has been courting the Republican elite, Dan Senor, a political strategist and former foreign-policy adviser to President Bush, said on ABC's “This Week.”

WHITE HOUSE: SURGE'S ‘GREAT SUCCESS’  —  President Bush is pressing Congress today for approval of the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, and the White House says it doesn't believe it has had any dealings on this with Democrat Mark Penn, the former chief strategist for Hillary Clinton's campaign …

U.S. and Iraqis Battle Militias to End Attacks  —  BAGHDAD — Sharp fighting broke out in the Sadr City district of Baghdad on Sunday as American and Iraqi troops sought to control neighborhoods used by Shiite militias to fire rockets and mortars into the nearby Green Zone.

Olympic torch extinguished during Paris leg  —  (CNN) — The Olympic torch relay was disrupted Monday by protesters in Paris demonstrating against the Chinese government, causing authorities to extinguish the flame three times and put the torch on a bus, according to The Associated Press.

The Real Colombian-Trade Story  —  It's understandable that Mark Penn's departure from the Clinton campaign has made so much news over the weekend, but the political story isn't the most important.  That's the fate for the Colombian free-trade deal that Penn's firm was helping to promote.

How I Made It: Spike Lee on ‘Do the Right Thing’  —  Several people have surprised me by saying that one of the movie's biggest legacies is the impact you had on diversifying New York film crews.  —  Do the Right Thing was my first union film.  I looked at the rosters, and for the most part, it was white males.

Grains Gone Wild  —  These days you hear a lot about the world financial crisis.  But there's another world crisis under way — and it's hurting a lot more people.  —  I'm talking about the food crisis.  Over the past few years the prices of wheat, corn, rice and other basic foodstuffs …

SEIU dropping $740k in Pennsylvania  —  The SEIU (formerly known as one of those shadowy Washington groups) reports (.pdf) that it's dropping almost $740,000 on staff and literature for a massive canvass of Pennsylvania.  —  Obama's resources, as the party consolidates around him …