Who's smearing whom?  —  The only obstacle between Barack Obama and the presidency is the mountain of smears that will no doubt come his way.  That's the narrative that Obama supporters — and his swooning chroniclers in the mainstream media — would have us believe.

China Inspired Interrogations at Guantánamo  —  WASHINGTON — The military trainers who came to Guantánamo Bay in December 2002 based an entire interrogation class on a chart showing the effects of “coercive management techniques” for possible use on prisoners, including …

You've Got To Have Faith  —  Barack Obama makes a pitch in Zanesville, OH, today to expand President Bush's faith based programs, while affirming his belief in the separation between church and state.  He'll propose a Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships to help these groups apply …

The far-right's patriotism problem...  Jonah Goldberg continues to demonstrate how the right-wing is manipulating public discourse in order to confuse and conflate patriotism with rabid nationalism.  Make no mistake, this is a coordinated effort to deliberately replace substance with its symbol …

On Call Exclusive: Obama Met Privately With Powell At His Office  —  Sen. Barack Obama and retired Gen. Colin Powell met privately two weeks ago in Powell's personal office in Alexandria.  —  Peggy Cifrino, Powell's spokeswoman, confirmed that the presumptive Democratic nominee …

McCain not fundraising down-ballot  —  John McCain has begun to raise eyebrows in Republican circles for his lack of fundraising help on behalf of his party's House and Senate campaign committees.  —  The Arizona senator has yet to send a fundraising appeal for those committees nearly four months …

New CNN Poll: Obama, McCain in a statistical dead heat  —  (CNN) — With the dust having finally settled after the prolonged Democratic presidential primary, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama locked in a statistical dead heat in the race for the White House.

Harry Reid: No. 1 on YouTube today!  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid isn't necessarily known as a multimedia sensation, but thanks to his “coal makes us sick” comment, Reid has rocketed to the top of YouTube.  —  This video of Reid on Fox Business Network now sits atop YouTube's …

“It's time for Republicans to develop a new brand of conservatism”  —  Here's an excerpt from McLaughlin & Associates memo to be released tomorrow on the results of their latest survey and the state of the race:

Muslims outraged at police advert featuring cute puppy sitting in policeman's hat  —  A postcard featuring a cute puppy sitting in a policeman's hat advertising a Scottish police force's new telephone number has sparked outrage from Muslims.  —  Tayside Police's new non-emergency phone number …

Iran ‘seriously considering’ new international nuclear offer  —  UNITED NATIONS — Iran's senior diplomat said Tuesday that Tehran was seriously considering a new offer from six world powers to resolve the dispute over its nuclear program, and he praised the package as “constructive.”

Obama discusses his chat Bill Clinton  —  (CNN) — Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are moving on.  —  In Obama's first comments about his widely-covered phone conversation with the former president Monday morning, the Illinois senator said the two did not dwell on the prolonged and at times divisive primary race.

Andrew Bacevich: Ignoring Inconvenient Facts  —  Bush-loathing scholar Andrew Bacevich has taken to the Boston Globe to pen a screed documenting the horrible misdeeds perpetrated by the administration.  Bacevich even ordered his complaints in a tidy little list:

Obama over fist bumping?  —  (CNN) — Is Obama ditching his signature fist bump?  —  According to Tuesday's press pool report, the Illinois senator refused to bump fists with a boy as he was touring the Eastside Community Ministry in Zanesville, Ohio.  —  As the boy outstretched his first …

A not-so-glorious Fourth  —  U.S. atrocities are unworthy of our heritage.  —  Put the fireworks in storage.  —  Cancel the parade.  —  Tuck the soaring speeches in a drawer for another time.  —  This year, America doesn't deserve to celebrate its birthday.  This Fourth of July should be a day of quiet and atonement.