One Nation, Under a New Obama Salute  —  George Bush had his three-fingered W salute that supporters flashed when greeting him at presidential campaign events in 2000.  And now, if a Los Angeles creative agency gets its way, Sen. Barack Obama will see fans meet him with his own salute like the one above.

Georgia, Russia ‘Very Close’ to War Over Breakaway Republic South Ossetia  —  BREAKING NEWS: Russian military says 10 Russian peacekeepers have been killed and 30 wounded in violence in South Ossetia.  —  Developing story, will be updated; read previous story below:

Democratic Aides Working on Plan To Keep the Peace At the Convention  —  With the clock running out on preparations for the Democratic convention, advisers to Sen. Barack Obama are scrambling to reach a compromise with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to appease her supporters and find roles for her and her husband.

Know-Nothing Politics  —  So the G.O.P. has found its issue for the 2008 election.  For the next three months the party plans to keep chanting: “Drill here!  Drill now!  Drill here!  Drill now!  Four legs good, two legs bad!”  O.K., I added that last part.

Cohen on track for decisive victory  —  The bet Steve Cohen campaign made with himself and with the city of Memphis might have seemed naïve.  —  Some critics called it pandering.  —  But Cohen's gut told him to run on his record.  He said his heart told him to embrace the presidential rival …

John Edwards love child rumours threaten the Barack Obama presidential campaign  —  Barack Obama's supporters yesterday tried to distance him from a potentially damaging sex scandal.  —  His possible running mate John Edwards faced renewed suggestions that he had a love child.

Group Plans Campaign Against G.O.P. Donors  —  Nearly 10,000 of the biggest donors to Republican candidates and causes across the country will probably receive a foreboding “warning” letter in the mail next week.  —  The letter is an opening shot across the bow from an unusual …

The Olympics Are Political  —  Today the 2008 Summer Olympics start in Beijing.  The debate in the lead up to the Games has focused on whether or not this sporting event, representing the pinnacle of thousands of athletes' careers, is also a time to discuss politics.

Lord of the Memes  —  All my life I've been a successful pseudo-intellectual, sprinkling quotations from Kafka, Epictetus and Derrida into my conversations, impressing dates and making my friends feel mentally inferior.  But over the last few years, it's stopped working.  People just look at me blankly.

Accountability Now/Strange Bedfellows money bomb  —  Richard Nixon, August 8, 1974, 9:01 p.m. from the Oval Office: … Thirty-four years ago today, Richard Nixon was forced from office as a result of mounting public anger, which in turn fueled the bipartisan intent of Congress to impeach him …

Study Cautions Against Strike on Iran's Nuclear Facilities  —  A military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities would probably only delay the country's progress toward nuclear-weapons capability, according to a study that concludes that such an attack could backfire by strengthening Tehran's resolve to acquire the bomb.

Obama expected to arrive Friday for Honolulu visit, private fundraiser  —  U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois is expected to arrive in Hawai'i on Friday with his family to begin a weeklong vacation before preparations for the Democratic National Convention in Denver later this month.