Worlds Apart  —  When I was little, I had a recurrent dream that there was a terrible earthquake.  My father, his body a horse with wings, swooped down from the sky, kneeled so I could jump on his back and flew away just as the earth cracked open beneath me.  It was my most comforting dream.

Showdown at Saddleback  —  While normal people were out having fun Saturday night, I was home in front of the TV.  But I wasn't enjoying the Olympics.  Your diligent columnist was dutifully watching Barack Obama and John McCain answer the Rev. Rick Warren's questions at Saddleback Church.

Smears the Left Can Fight For  —  In the least credible and most vicious corner of the internet, liberal bloggers at the Daily Kos are accusing John McCain of plagiarizing from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.  The story Solzhenitsyn told was of a prisoner who drew a cross in the dirt in a Soviet Gulag.

The Cross In The Dirt, Ctd  —  Many readers have noted that versions of this story - attributed to Solzhenitsyn by Chuck Colson - have been a staple of evangelical sermons for a very long time.  They aren't always attributed to Solzhenitsyn, but this sermon, preached by Father Luke Veronis, is a classic of the genre.

BIDEN?  —  I just noticed that CNN is saying that Biden's the big buzz for VP down in DC political circles today.  So I'm trying to process what I think of Biden as a potential pick.  —  On the one hand, it's not the most exciting choice.  He doesn't bring a state.  Delaware's going to go Democratic.