Iraqi Leader Stirs up US Campaign  —  Obama is pleased, but McCain certainly is not.  In an interview with SPIEGEL, Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki expressed support for Obama's troop withdrawal plans.  Despite a half-hearted retraction, the comments have stirred up the US presidential campaign.

Obama meets with Afghan president  —  KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) — U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday — a leader the Democratic senator has criticized for not doing enough to rebuild the war-torn nation.  —  The presumptive Democratic …

Rendering public opinion irrelevant  —  One of the most striking aspects of our political discourse, particularly during election time, is how efficiently certain views that deviate from the elite consensus are banished from sight — simply prohibited — even when those views are held by the vast majority of citizens.

Obama's steady centrism  —  Throughout the left-wing blogosphere, the cry has come: Barack Obama is moving away from them, and to the center.  “Moving to the middle is for losers,” cried the politically ambidextrous Arianna Huffington.  He's “betraying his claims of being a new kind of politician …

MSNBC prez on Fox News: “You can't trust a word they say”  —  MSNBC president Phil Griffin spoke with me earlier this week, a few hours after he was promoted to his new post (see my earlier story).  Because of what the techies call a “catastrophic failure” of my hard drive (a strange phrase …

The Tautology of Hope  —  I'm pretty sure this is photoshopped, but either way it says volumes about Obama's vapid sloganeering:

Given a Shovel, Americans Dig Deeper Into Debt  —  The collection agencies call at least 20 times a day.  For a little quiet, Diane McLeod stashes her phone in the dishwasher.  —  But right up until she hit the wall financially, Ms. McLeod was a dream customer for lenders.

Palestinians: Israel uses rats against J'lem Arabs  —  The Palestinian Authority's official news agency Wafa says Israel is using rats to drive Arab families out of their homes in the Old City of Jerusalem.  —  In the past the news agency, which is controlled and funded …

Preview the Show  —  About the show  —  CNN Presents: Black in America continues with “The Black Woman & Family.”  Soledad O'Brien explores the varied experiences of black women and families and investigates the disturbing statistics of single parenthood, racial disparities between students and the devastating toll of HIV/AIDS.

It's the Economic Stupidity, Stupid  —  THE best thing to happen to John McCain was for the three network anchors to leave him in the dust this week while they chase Barack Obama on his global Lollapalooza tour.  Were voters forced to actually focus on Mr. McCain's response …

Day 1 of Obama's Magical Media Tour: All Air from Outside the Paint!  —  A great first day on national television news for Barack Obama as he began his much-hyped overseas trip with a stop in Kuwait before moving on to Afghanistan.  CNN anchor Rick Sanchez, seemingly channeling the media's own excitement …

It Came From Outer Space  —  July 19, Oxford, UK-Death by asteroids, comets and gamma ray bursts was on the agenda of the conference on Global Catastrophic Risks this morning.  First up was NASA senior scientist David Morrison to talk about the Spaceguard Survey and the threat of a catastrophic asteroid strike.