The Candidate We Still Don't Know  —  AS I went on vacation at the end of July, Barack Obama was leading John McCain by three to four percentage points in national polls.  When I returned last week he still was.  But lo and behold, a whole new plot twist had rolled off the bloviation assembly line …

EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Barack Obama  —  Attention Brody File readers.  —  I was just granted an exclusive one on one interview with Barack Obama here at the Saddleback Civil Forum.  CBN News was the only media outlet to go behind the scenes and conduct an interview.

Condi Rice: Russian reputation in ‘tatters’  —  For Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state and an expert on international relations with the Russians, it's a remarkable statement - the one she made today - that, as a result of the conflict with Georgia, Russia's reputation is “in tatters.”

MCCAIN'S BACK IN THE SADDLEBACK  —  From NBC's Chuck Todd  —  Normally, on a night like tonight, we here at First Read would have been liveblogging every moment of Rick Warren's presidential forum.  But with the Olympics and the fact this is THE Saturday Michael Phelps will be making history, we kept our liveblogging in check.

A New Low  —  On August 5, US newspapers carried the story of the capture of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani woman who was trained in neuroscience here in the United States.  Typical of the stories was this one in the NY Times.  The report was fairly neutral, but there were some gaps in the coverage which seemed a little puzzling.

Kobe Bryant Schools Liberal NBC Announcer On Patriotism  —  It's pretty moving to watch a pampered professional jock show more patriotism than the Democratic candidate for president, more pride in his country than the democratic candidate's wife, and more awareness of this country's opportunities than a liberal NBC announcer.

Obama: Clarence Thomas Is Just Too Dumb  —  I realize everyone is focusing on Obama's “exp...” gaffe tonight with Rick Warren.  But look for something else in this brief clip via Hot Air.  It seems fairly obvious to me that what Obama actually did, whether he intended to, or not, is imply that Clarence Thomas is simply dumb.

Phelps's Epic Journey Ends in Perfection  —  BEIJING — It was so surreal to be Michael Phelps here, to listen to people debate whether he is the greatest athlete in Olympic history after he passed a group that included the runners Carl Lewis and Paavo Nurmi to become the one with the most gold medals.

McCain As Good As Obama Was Bad  —  I don't want to get to overheated about what occurred tonight, but I do think McCain had a clear and decisive victory over Obama.  It all comes down to something that Phil Bredesen, the Democratic governor of Tennessee recently said about Obama …

GOP rejects Pelosi's energy proposal  —  Republicans lambasted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) energy plan Saturday advising her to “get out of the way” if she was not going to accept GOP solutions to the energy crisis.  —  In her Saturday radio address Pelosi announced that Democrats …

STARS GET READY FOR MILE HIGH TIMES  —  They're putting the party in Democratic Party.  —  Event planners, publicity teams and sound crews are flocking to Colorado in advance of the Democratic National Convention that kicks off a week from tomorrow.  —  Nightclubs and high-end hotels …