Payback?  Obama snubs Rangel  —  The Obama campaign is denying House Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel a speaking role at this month's Democratic National Convention — a move those close to the powerhouse Harlem congressman view as a spiteful snub.

Breaking the Press  —  With the polls continuing to show John McCain giving Barack Obama a run for his money, much of the press has seemed flummoxed by the turn of events.  After all, the narrative of this campaign was supposed to be how a triumphant Obama rode discontent against the Bush administration to an overwhelming victory.

We Are All Georgians  —  For anyone who thought that stark international aggression was a thing of the past, the last week must have come as a startling wake-up call.  After clashes in the Georgian region of South Ossetia, Russia invaded its neighbor, launching attacks that threaten its very existence.

How to Stop Putin  —  WASHINGTON — The Russia-Georgia cease-fire brokered by France's president is less than meets the eye.  Its terms keep moving as the Russian army keeps moving.  Russia has since occupied Gori (appropriately, Stalin's birthplace), effectively cutting Georgia in two.

Obama's War on Women  —  The Obama campaign has at long last lifted the veil of mystery that has surrounded the Democratic presidential candidate's tax increase plans.  Mr. Obama's two economic advisers, Jason Furman and Austan Goolsbee, have an op-ed piece in today's Wall Street Journal, and it isn't pretty.