No. 44 Has Spoken  —  Anyone who saw Barack Obama at Berlin's Siegessäule on Thursday could recognize that this man will become the 44th president of the United States.  He is more than ambitious — he wants to lay claim to become the president of the world.

Playing Innocent Abroad  —  Radical optimism is America's contribution to the world.  The early settlers thought America's founding would bring God's kingdom to earth.  John Adams thought America would emancipate “the slavish part of mankind all over the earth.”

McCain May Act Soon on VP Pick  —  Aides Predict Announcement Before Olympics  —  Anxious to counter the blanket media coverage that has followed Sen. Barack Obama on his overseas journey, Sen. John McCain is weighing whether to announce his running mate in the coming weeks before the spotlight shifts …

He ventured forth to bring light to the world  —  The anointed one's pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a miracle in action - and a blessing to all his faithful followers  —  And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land …

End of the Affair  —  Barack Obama and the press break up.  —  Around midnight on July 16, New York Times chief political correspondent Adam Nagourney received a terse e-mail from Barack Obama's press office.  The campaign was irked by the Times' latest poll and Nagourney …

Secret torture memo released  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Bush administration told the CIA in 2002 that its interrogators working abroad would not violate U.S. prohibitions against torture unless they “have the specific intent to inflict severe pain or suffering,” according …

Obama, Vague on Issues, Pleases Crowd in Europe  —  PARIS — For Senator Barack Obama, who came to Europe once in the last four years, making a stop in London on his way to Russia, the response of many Europeans to his potential presidency has been gratifying — emotional, responsive …

HE COULD BE A SERIAL LIAR  —  Maybe there is another explanation for Barack Obama's trouble with the truth, but I'm not sure what it would be.  He did it again today, loosing a palpable falsehood on NBC.  Not that it's a surprise; Obama coming out with a whopper has become pretty much a daily occurrence.

U.S. Expands Visa Program for Iraqi Allies  —  BAGHDAD — The American Embassy in Baghdad announced Thursday that it had expanded tenfold its program to help Iraqi employees of the American government here, who faced threats for their work, to obtain visas and ultimately citizenship in the United States.

Obama Abroad: We Get the Picture  —  The Candidate Looked Good This Week.  Did the Press?  —  After saying little in public during a weekend in Iraq and Afghanistan, Barack Obama met with traveling reporters near Jordan's Temple of Hercules, a gladiator standing his ground against the media hordes.

Barack Obama Attacked In First National Political Ad Ever To Air On MTV  —  Conservative group reaches out to younger voters with ‘Both Ways Barack’ ad.  —  There have been a lot of firsts in the 27-year history of MTV, but beginning Wednesday night (July 23), the channel will begin airing something …

What Bush and Batman Have in Common  —  A cry for help goes out from a city beleaguered by violence and fear: A beam of light flashed into the night sky, the dark symbol of a bat projected onto the surface of the racing clouds . . .  Oh, wait a minute.  That's not a bat, actually.

OBAMA'S MISSING ‘THESIS’  —  NBC Senior Investigative Producer Jim Popkin looks at “Obama and the case of the missing ‘thesis’” in an item on NBC blog Deep Background.  —  Conservative provocateurs have been hunting for it.  Investigative journalists have been on the prowl, too.

Rove Threatened GOP IT Guru If He Does Not ‘Take the Fall’ for Election Fraud in Ohio, Says Attorney  —  Karl Rove has threatened a GOP high-tech guru and his wife, if he does not “'take the fall' for election fraud in Ohio,” according to a letter sent this morning to Attorney General Michael Mukasey …

Did today's Obama speech remind anyone else of ...  This groundbreaking moment?  Which reminds us of what Republican consultant Doug Heye said on FNC over the weekend: “We don't want President Hasselhoff.”

100 female U.S. service members have died in Iraq  —  (CNN) — The death of an Air Force technical sergeant in Iraq last week quietly brought a somber milestone: One hundred American female service members have died in Iraq, according to a CNN count of Pentagon figures.  —  The latest death was Tech.