Obama's Greatest Admirer  —  Barack Obama wants to speak at the Brandenburg Gate.  He figures it would be a nice backdrop.  The supporting cast — a cheering audience and a few fainting frauleins — would be a picturesque way to bolster his foreign policy credentials.

Myth of Consensus Explodes: APS Opens Global Warming Debate  —  “Considerable presence” of skeptics  —  The American Physical Society, an organization representing nearly 50,000 physicists, has reversed its stance on climate change and is now proclaiming that many of its members disbelieve in human-induced global warming.

McCain's attacks get more reckless, less responsible  —  In the modern political era, voters have come to expect presidential candidates to be, well, presidential.  There's an expectation of respect and decorum.  Candidates are going to go on the attack on occasion, but Americans …

300 Advisers Shape Obama's Foreign Policy  —  WASHINGTON — Every day around 8 a.m., foreign policy aides at Senator Barack Obama's Chicago campaign headquarters send him two e-mails: a briefing on major world developments over the previous 24 hours and a set of questions, accompanied by suggested answers …

Obama Ignorance Watch  —  Barack Obama delivered a speech in West Lafeyette, IN on Wednesday and once again mangled some well known historical facts: … Aaah yes - “the bomb that fell on Pearl Harbor.”  Who can forget that?  It was the big one, the one that took out all those boats.

Obama and the captains of American industry  —  Sen. Barack Obama has been meeting secretly with heavy industry CEOs in Washington to discuss issues that he would face as president.  —  On the campaign trail, Obama has been highly critical of corporate executives and promised them nothing but tougher regulation and higher taxes.

The Coming Activist Age  —  We're entering an era of epic legislation.  There are at least five large problems that will compel the federal government to act in gigantic ways over the next few years.  —  First, there is the erosion of the social contract.

Statement by the Press Secretary on Iraq  —  President Bush and Prime Minister Maliki spoke yesterday in their regularly scheduled secure video conference, about a range of matters including the improving security situation and the performance of Iraqi Security Forces across Iraq, from Basra, to Maysan, Baghdad and Sadr City, and Mosul.

Poll: McCain backers' excitement lags Obama voters  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — John McCain is facing an excitement deficit.  —  While overall interest in the presidential campaign has swelled since last fall, backers of Barack Obama are more fired up and express more loyalty to their candidate than McCain's do …

The secret hidden within John McCain's campaign schedule  —  You can tell a lot about any political campaign by how it invests its most precious resource: the 1,440 minutes in each candidate's day.  —  UPDATE: An earlier version of this item had an hour-by-hour schedule that was provided …

McCain POW bud: Muslims ‘going to kill us’  —  One of John McCain's fellow POW's in Vietnam defended the war in Iraq, saying, “The Muslims have said either we kneel or they're going to kill us.”  —  In a phone call with reporters arranged by the McCain campaign, Colonel Bud Day added …

HRC Campaign Aides Buy 2012 Website  —  A company associated with Hillary Clinton's top presidential campaign advance staff has purchased a website domain that hints of a 2012 presidential bid for the vanquished senator from New York.  —  HRC2012.com was bought by the Markham Group on June 8, according to whois.com

L-ish Economic Prospects  —  Home prices are in free fall.  Unemployment is rising.  Consumer confidence is plumbing depths not seen since 1980.  When will it all end?  —  The answer is, probably not until 2010 or later.  Barack Obama, take notice.  —  It's true that some prognosticators …

Prop. 8 facing a fight  —  POLL SHOWS MAJORITY OPPOSES GAY MARRIAGE BAN  —  In a finding that could foreshadow a difficult political battle for a proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage, a new Field Poll says more California voters oppose Proposition 8 than favor it.

Listen Now  —  Angelica Hernandez (left) and her mother, Gloria Nunez, struggle to make ends meet on a very limited budget.  —  Nunez Family Economic Snapshot  —  Want to read more information on the Nunezes household budget and learn about budget cuts they've made?  Click here.

Terrorism Funds May Let Brass Fly in Style  —  The Air Force's top leadership sought for three years to spend counterterrorism funds on “comfort capsules” to be installed on military planes that ferry senior officers and civilian leaders around the world, with at least four top generals involved …

Obama on Boumediene & Nuremburg  —  I have an article on the home page today discussing the rulings by civilian and military judges yesterday that will allow the military commission trial of Osama bin Laden's driver, Salim Hamdan, to proceed next week.  Toward the end of the piece …

'It's gonna be a bloodbath,' fallen soldier told father  —  (CNN) — Cpl. Gunnar Zwilling suspected his days were numbered last week, while he and his band of brothers in the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team prepared for a mission near Wanat, Afghanistan.  —  “It's gonna be a bloodbath …