Anti-Obama Author on 9/11 Conspiracy  —  Among the follow-up efforts to Jerome R. Corsi's “Unfit for Command,” which inspired the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attacks on Senator John Kerry in 2004, is “Obama Nation.”  But the conservative commentator's book about Senator Barack Obama appears …

Obama, Richmond, VA, Next Thursday?  Not Necessarily What It Looks Like...  CBS News's Jeff Greenfield and I each have independent Democratic sources who say that an advance team for Barack Obama is in Richmond, VA preparing for a campaign event next Thursday.  —  To conjecture, of course, would be easy.

Jackson Browne Sues GOP And McCain Campaign  —  Singer, songwriter, liberal activist and now John McCain scourge Jackson Browne filed a lawsuit today against the presumptive GOP nominee and the Republican Party for failing to obtain a license to use one of his songs in a television commercial.

McCain Displays Credentials as Obama Relaxes  —  HONOLULU — For the last several days, Senator Barack Obama has seemed to fade from the scene while on his secluded vacation here, as his opponent, Senator John McCain, has seized nearly every opportunity to display his foreign policy credentials …

IF THE EDITORS OF THE NY TIMES WERE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, THEY WOULD FLUNK  —  Yesterday the New York Times ran a story on a study by the General Accounting Office that was commissioned by Democratic Senators Carl Levin and Byron Dorgan.  The study found that from 1998 to 2005 …

US, Poland agree to anti-missile defense deal  —  WARSAW, Poland — Poland and the United States struck a deal Thursday that will strengthen military ties and put an American missile interceptor base in Poland, a plan that has infuriated Moscow and sparked fears in Europe of a new arms race.

McCain's Focus on Georgia Raises Question of Propriety  —  After Chiding Obama, He Dwells on Crisis as a President Might  —  Standing behind a lectern in Michigan this week, with two trusted senators ready to do his bidding, John McCain seemed to forget for a moment that he was only running for president.

EXCLUSIVE: FAA Tapes Reveal Drama of Obama Jet Incident  —  Audio Contradicts FAA Account of “No Emergency”  —  The incident involving Sen. Barack Obama's campaign plane last month was much more serious than the airline or the Federal Aviation Administration said, according to FAA control tower tapes obtained by ABC News.

Lawyers' Ties Hint at Extent of Hiding Edwards's Affair  —  As tabloid reports of a sex scandal threatened former Senator John Edwards's presidential campaign last December on the eve of the Iowa caucuses, two lawyers surfaced with written statements that appeared to exonerate the candidate.

Kremlin dusts off Cold War lexicon to make US villain in Georgia  —  Russians were told over breakfast yesterday what really happened in Georgia: the conflict in South Ossetia was part of a plot by Dick Cheney, the Vice-President, to stop Barak Obama being elected president of the United States.

VICE PRESIDENT GORE?  —  Vice President Gore?  It has a certain ring.  Most folks have assumed that Gore is off the VP list, but he hasn't been slotted as a convention speaker yet, which is curious since Gore is one of the party's superstars and its most effective spokesperson on energy and the environment.

Anatomy of a smear  —  Anyone looking for a good reason why the mainstream media took so long to get onboard with the tabloid-sourced news about John Edwards' affair need only look to a story that ran this week about Barack Obama and actor George Clooney.  —  According to the story …

“A Plan to Put Hard-Working Americans First”  —  Here's Obama's latest ad.  It's another good one, and continues the emphasis on the middle class, promising to put “the middle class ahead of corporate interests.”  As Ramesh noted by way of this James Pethokoukis post, Obama is steadily focusing …