Obama's Overstatement  —  An Obama ad says McCain's campaign got $2 million from “Big Oil.”  The total is actually $1.3 million.  —  Obama released a TV spot saying McCain's campaign got $2 million from “Big Oil” while McCain proposed “another $4 billion in tax breaks” for the industry.

Sun-Times political columnist Robert Novak retires  —  FROM SUN-TIMES STAFF REPORTS  —  Robert Novak has announced his immediate retirement following the diagnosis of a brain tumor, a prognosis the Sun-Times' political columnist describes as “dire.”  —  “The details are being worked …

Book says White House ordered forgery  —  A new book by the author Ron Suskind claims that the White House ordered the CIA to forge a back-dated, handwritten letter from the head of Iraqi intelligence to Saddam Hussein.  —  Suskind writes in “The Way of the World,” to be published Tuesday …

Bayh Partisans cancel softball game  —  Sen. Evan Bayh's staff softball team, The Bayh Partisans, has cancelled the game it had scheduled for tomorrow evening with the drug policy team The One Hitters.  Bayh staffer Jonathan Stahler sent One Hitter team captain Kris Krane an e-mail Monday morning citing …

Bob Herbert: Why is everyone missing the phallic symbols in McCain's Britney ad?  —  Between this and last week's Godwin-ing of the crowd scenes, I'm honestly curious to see where the left takes the critique next.  One would think they'd either run out of cards to play or would quietly pocket …

ATV/Zogby Poll Toss-Up!  McCain 42%, Obama 41% as Undecided Voters Increase...  Obama loses support among his strongest demographic groups  —  UTICA, New York - A national Associated TV/Zogby International telephone poll of 1,011 likely voters conducted July 31-Aug. 1 finds Republican …

THE LATEST MEME  —  Truly a Kuhnian moment.  John McCain is so honorable and straight-shooting that the only explanation for his campaign's headlong dive into sleaze, xenophobia and gonzo bamboozlement is that McCain is so out of it and controlled by his advisors that he doesn't actually know what they're doing in his name.

Why the tire-pressure gauge stings; Update: The spin continues  —  An inability to comprehend context appears to have broken out among the Leftosphere.  Apparently, none of our colleagues on the port side of the blogosphere can figure out why Barack Obama's suggestion that the energy crisis …

The Meaning of Capitalism  —  I've received an enormous amount of email, mostly positive, about my capitalism column (the most common complaint from the friendly readers was that capitalism is a Marxist term we shouldn't concede.  A fair complaint).  But I thought this email is worth responding to:

Barack Obama shifts on tapping national oil reserves  —  In a campaign speech in Michigan, the candidate suggested releasing oil from the emergency stockpile, a relief plan reminiscent of President Clinton's in 2000.  —  LANSING, MICH. — Democrat Barack Obama called today for tapping …

POCKET....Here's the latest Obama ad pushing back on John McCain's oil policy.  Basic message: McCain takes lots of money from oil interests, while Obama wants to tax their windfall profits in order to fund a $1,000 rebate to hardworking taxpayers.  —  So is the ad any good?  It depends.

Pressure Grows for F.B.I.'s Anthrax Evidence  —  WASHINGTON — After four years of painstaking scientific research, the F.B.I. by 2005 had traced the anthrax in the poisoned letters of 2001 to a single flask of the bacteria at the Army biodefense laboratory at Fort Detrick, Md., according to government scientists and bureau officials.

Secret deal kept British Army out of battle for Basra  —  A secret deal between Britain and the notorious al-Mahdi militia prevented British Forces from coming to the aid of their US and Iraqi allies for nearly a week during the battle for Basra this year, The Times has learnt.

The Joys of the RNC  —  From a T-shirt sold by a local entrepreneur  —  O bliss!  O rapture!  The RNC is coming to town.  The traffic headaches, the commandeered parking ramps.  The cops newly outfitted with tasers.  I think I'll pass, thanks.  —  But the Republican National Committee …

Now, 2 Obama backers, Bernie Mac and Morgan Freeman,hospitalized  —  A bad day for Barack Obama donors.  —  Morgan Freeman, the iconic voice of God in several films and reliable good-guy co-conspirator of Christian Bale's Batman in “The Dark Knight,” is in serious condition in a Memphis hospital …

DNC protesters offer Denver a “doo doo” treaty  —  Representatives of three groups planning protests during the Democratic National Convention will be signing what they're calling a “Doo Doo Accord” in advance of a City Council meeting where an ordinance that would ban protesters from carrying certain items …