[POLE AXED] OR NOT  —  TPM Reader RY keeps us posted ...  Here's the video:  —  Late Update: A reader writes in to dispute that Tapper looks “pole axed” in response to Gergen's comment.  And looking again he may be right, though it's possible he was pole axed on the inside.

John Kerry rebukes Wesley Clark on Meet the Press: Brokaw loses his memory too  —  In one segment Kerry can be really good on NBC and then be equally bad the next.  On Meet the Press today, Tom Brokaw asked John Kerry about Wesley Clark's Face the Nation segment.

Russian dissident, novelist Solzhenitsyn dead  —  (CNN) — The Russian novelist and historian Alexander Solzhenitsyn, whose works detailed the Soviet labor camp system, has died at 89, Russian news agencies reported Monday.  —  Awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1970 for “The First Circle …

House Republicans go back on the floor Monday to talk gas prices  —  Continuing with their guerilla tactics from last week, House Republicans will be back on the floor Monday to talk gas prices, even though Congress is in recess, and they may stay there all week.

Obama Central: Peace, Harmony and Deep Secrecy  —  CHICAGO — The bustling Obama headquarters on North Michigan Avenue invites comparisons to a start-up, teeming with young people in jeans clutching BlackBerrys as they walk through the halls.  Yet in Democratic circles, another …

McCain's Celebrity Ad: Frivolous, A Waste Of Money, A Waste Of Time  —  I've been asked again and again for my response to the now infamous McCain celebrity ad.  I actually have three responses.  It is a complete waste of the money John McCain's contributors have donated to his campaign.

John McCain may turn to Virginia for a VP candidate  —  First came speculation that Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine was on Barack Obama's short list for the Democrats' vice presidential nod.  —  Today, the Associated Press is reporting that John McCain's campaign has asked another son of the Old Dominion …

MoDo 's Latest Takedown of Women Voters  —  What's up with Maureen Dowd?  Now she's suggesting American women, specifically those who supported Hillary, dislike Obama and won't for him.  Her reasons are rather odd.  First she compares Obama to romantic figures in Pride and Prejudice …

O-Force One  —  From CBS News' Allison O'Keefe:  —  Barack Obama's new campaign plane is nothing short of grand.  Well, for the candidate that is.  —  Obama's section of the plane rivals that of any first class.  Recently the front cabin of the Boeing 757 was retrofitted to install four individual chairs that resemble La-Z-Boys.

John McCain, Barack Obama: Tied again  —  The short-lived bounce of Barack Obama's European tour is gone, and the presidential contest between Obama and John McCain has settled back down to a dead-heat, in the measure of the daily tracking surveys of the Gallup Poll.