Russia Threatens Retaliation After Georgia Says It Fired on Planes  —  MOSCOW — The sharpest fighting since the early 1990s in the disputed Caucasian enclave of South Ossetia threatened to draw Russia and the American-backed former Soviet republic of Georgia into direct military conflict on Friday.

An Antichrist Obama in McCain Ad?  —  It's not easy to make the infamous Willie Horton ad from the 1988 presidential campaign seem benign.  But suggesting that Barack Obama is the Antichrist might just do it.  —  That's just what some outraged Christian supporters of the Democratic nominee …

Clinton backers want vote  —  Brenda Krause is tired of fearmongering among the Democrats.  —  The 55-year-old delegate to the Democratic National Convention doesn't think the party — or its unity — is in any way compromised by her voting for Hillary Rodham Clinton at the roll call.

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.

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 …

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 …

When Identity Politics Backfire  —  Nikki Tinker's resounding defeat in her primary challenge to Rep. Stephen Cohen may suggest that identity politics don't work quite as well as they used to.  —  This week the Democratic primary in the mostly African-American Ninth District in Memphis, Tennessee made national headlines.

Suskind to Release CIA Interview Transcripts on ‘Forged’ Document  —  Author Ron Suskind says he will release transcripts of his interviews with a top CIA official that will confirm his story that in 2003 the White House ordered the agency to fabricate a phony document linking Iraq to the Sept. 11 …

YEP  —  Schumer: “I would answer back hard.  What do you mean [Obama's] not one of us?  It's John McCain who wears $500 shoes, has six houses, and comes from one of the richest families in his state.  It's Barack Obama who climbed up the hard way, and that's why he wants middle-class tax cuts and better schools for our kids.”

Just Asking...  If there were a group of questionable donations all with the name Abdullah  —  that were funneled through a guy in Jordan  —  who is under investigation for war profiteering  —  would this be a bigger deal?

After shake-up, McCain ground game revs up  —  A month after a campaign shakeup that reshaped John McCain's field operation, aides to the Republican nominee are touting organizational changes they say are bringing them closer to Barack Obama's sprawling effort.

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.

Cheney will speak at GOP convention  —  Vice President Cheney will speak at the Republican National Convention next month in St. Paul on the same night as President Bush, according to representaives for the vice president and John McCain's campaign.  —  “The vice president looks forward …

Republican Energy Fumble  —  Politics has its puzzling moments.  John McCain and most of the GOP experienced one late last week.  That was when five of their own set about dismantling the best issue Republicans have in the upcoming election.  —  It's taken time, but Sen. McCain and his party …

Mayor wants federal probe after SWAT raids house, kills dogs  —  (CNN) — A Maryland mayor is asking the federal government to investigate why SWAT team members burst into his home without knocking and shot his two dogs to death in an investigation into a drug smuggling scheme.