McCain Denies He Used ‘The Word Timetable,’ Claims ‘We Were Greeted As Liberators’  —  During a January 30 Republican primary debate, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) pilloried former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for having once used the word “timetable” while talking about Iraq.

Gallup Daily: Obama 49%, McCain 40%  —  Third day with Obama holding a significant lead over McCain  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama now leads John McCain among national registered voters by a 49% to 40% margin in Gallup Poll Daily tracking conducted July 24-26.

Barack Obama's brother pushes Chinese imports on US  —  BARACK Obama's half-brother has been helping to promote cheap Chinese exports in a low-profile business career while the Democratic senator has been winning worldwide fame in his race for the White House.

Officer: Part of anti-Obama e-mail was wrong  —  An Army officer's negative e-mail account of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's visit with the troops in Afghanistan that set the blogosphere ablaze prompted Army officials to correct aspects of the e-mail and resulted in a statement …

Say Anything  —  When you think about the stunningly dishonest ad John McCain is running, falsely accusing Barack Obama of not meeting with troops during his trip abroad and falsely accusing Obama of some scheme to deny money to the troops, you have to recall the breathtakingly unprincipled …

Obama at UNITY convention in Chicago  —  In his first U.S. appearance after a nine-day foreign tour, Sen. Barack Obama told a convention of minority journalists in Chicago today that he believes affirmative action will still be needed, even if the nation elects its first black president.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)  —  MR. TOM BROKAW: And we are here with Senator Obama late Saturday afternoon in London, the last stop of his nine-day overseas trip.  —  You head back to the United States in a few hours.  For purposes of this program, we'll say good morning.

Listening to the Dalai Lama in Aspen  —  ASPEN — My late husband, Hunter S. Thompson, said that he was a teenage girl trapped in the body of an elderly dope fiend.  I realized something as I watched the highest ranking monk of Tibetan Buddhism: His Holiness is a teenage girl trapped in the body of a Dalai Lama!

Impractical Scheme of the Day  —  The health policy reform world has, in my view, a tragic if understandable tendency to get bogged down in the swamps of the politically viable so I'm always glad when someone puts something obviously unpassable on the table.  Here's Robert Waldman:

Blackwater keeps O! rollin'  —  At US News & World Report, Paul Bedard whispers that Blackwater handled Barack Obama's security during his trip to Afghanistan and helped in Iraq: … From whom did Blackwater get a bad rap?  From the politician who said they run amok and erode the core …

In study, evidence of liberal-bias bias  —  Cable talking heads accuse broadcast networks of liberal bias — but a think tank finds that ABC, NBC and CBS were tougher on Barack Obama than on John McCain in recent weeks.  —  Haters of the mainstream media reheated a bit of conventional wisdom last week.

Too Big to Fail, or to Survive  —  CRITICS of the Congressional housing package complain that we are now committing taxpayers to huge new outlays to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  That view is wrong: Congressional inaction over the past 15 years had already committed taxpayers to the bailout.

OBAMA'S SECRET RESCUE MISSION  —  SEEKS TO FREE US MOM'S KIDS FROM PALESTINIAN ‘CAPTIVITY’  —  Barack Obama carried out a secret assignment during his global tour last week.  —  While talking about the Middle East peace process in the West Bank Wednesday, the presumptive Democratic nominee slipped …

Sunday Conversation: Obama's Berlin Speech Re-examined  —  The immediate reaction to Barack Obama's speech in Berlin earlier this week was almost exclusively positive.  —  The images of the Illinois Senator speaking in front of several hundred thousand people as the sun set on Germany's capital was praised as uniquely arresting.

Cold Shoulders  —  THE streets were bright with promise on the sunny July day in 2001 when former President Bill Clinton arrived in Harlem, the historic capital of black America, to celebrate the opening of his office on 125th Street.  A chant of “We love Bill!” rose from the adoring crowd …