McCain Responds to Maliki's Call for an Iraq Withdrawal Timetable  —  Sen. John McCain, who has repeatedly derided anyone who advocated a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, now suddenly finds himself in a political box as the American-backed Iraqi leadership yesterday raised the prospect of exactly that.

McCain jokes about killing Iranians with cigarettes  —  PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - Presidential candidate John McCain, who once sang in jest about bombing Iran, on Tuesday reacted to a report of rising U.S. cigarette exports to the country by saying it may be “a way of killing 'em.”

July Leader Lost in 6 of Last 9 Competitive U.S. Elections  —  Convention period could prove crucial in determining the winner  —  PRINCETON, NJ — In 9 of the past 15 U.S. presidential elections, the candidate who was leading in Gallup polling roughly four months before the election ultimately won the popular vote for president.

Obama Addresses Critics on ‘Centrist’ Moves  —  POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. — Barack Obama had heard quite enough of the complaints that he is pirouetting, leaping, lurching even, toward the political center.  —  He is at heart, he told a crowd in suburban Atlanta, a pretty progressive guy …

ANOTHER AP BEAUT ...  Here's the lede from the AP's latest McCain fluffer, this time from Nedra Pickler ...  Well, easy for McCain too, since he doesn't either.  —  Pickler doesn't mention that McCain doesn't even say how he'll do it; he just says he'll do it.  No numbers — No nothing.

Lawmakers Re-energized on Energy  —  WASHINGTON — Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said anxiety over fuel oil costs is at crisis proportions in her state.  Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, said oil drilling advocates weighed in from the sidelines as she marched in a Fourth of July parade.

John McCain Thinks Social Security Is A “Disgrace”  —  On Monday, during a town hall in Denver, John McCain proposed a radical “fix” for the way Social Security is funded.  Responding to a questioner who claimed Social Security “will not be there” when current workers retire (which is wrong), McCain said this:

Outside groups pose McCain dilemma  —  Democrats say a group supporting Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) bought television ad time in Virginia that had been released by his campaign the same day, suggesting a possible connection between two groups that legally must remain separate.

How Much Does It Cost You in Wages if You “Sound Black?”  —  Fascinating new research by my University of Chicago colleague, Jeffrey Grogger, compares the wages of people who “sound black” when they talk to those who do not.  —  His main finding: blacks who “sound black” …

RNC Highlights Obama's Flip-Flops— Obama Denies Charges  —  He was against the surge— He said it wouldn't work— He said more troops would not make a difference.  —  Barack Obama was wrong.  —  The surge did work- We are winning in Iraq.  —  Today, thanks to the United States of America, another country is free!

Atheist soldier sues Army for ‘unconstitutional’ discrimination  —  KANSAS CITY, Kansas (CNN) — Army Spc. Jeremy Hall was raised Baptist.  —  Like many Christians, he said grace before dinner and read the Bible before bed.  Four years ago when he was deployed to Iraq, he packed his Bible so he would feel closer to God.

M. Murphy to ink with NBC  —  Bringing full closure to the speculation that he will join John McCain's campaign, GOP strategist Mike Murphy will be announced tomorrow as a political analyst for NBC News, according to a source familiar with the arrangement.  —  Murphy acknowledged the move but declined to comment.

Barack Obama's Berlin visit sparks German diplomatic row  —  Berlin, a city torn apart by war, is the perfect setting for an American president preaching peace.  Ronald Reagan famously stood metres away from the Brandenburg Gate and called on the Soviet Union to tear down the Wall dividing Europe.

Networks may limit convention coverage  —  Major television networks are considering curtailing coverage of the Democratic National Convention after Monday's announcement that Barack Obama will accept his party's nomination in a Denver stadium.  —  According to several broadcast executives …

The Education System Doesn't Get Fixed Because Pols Send Their Kids To Private Schools  —  Corona del Sol High School by Kevin Dooley  —  Jonathan Kozol, the great chronicler of what's happened to our schools, wrote Savage Inequalities a few years back, which did more than just about any other book …

McCain aide: DOJ scandal ‘nonsense’  —  Steve Schmidt, the new man in day-to-day charge of the McCain presidential campaign, stoutly defended his lobbying and PR firm's hiring of Tim Griffin, a former prosecutor who figured in the U.S. attorneys firing scandal.