Financial Russian Roulette  —  Will the U.S. financial system collapse today, or maybe over the next few days?  I don't think so — but I'm nowhere near certain.  You see, Lehman Brothers, a major investment bank, is apparently about to go under.  And nobody knows what will happen next.

OBAMA TRIED TO STALL GIS' IRAQ WITHDRAWAL  —  WHILE campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence.

MCCAIN STILL SEES THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE ECONOMY AS STRONG.... The Obama campaign routinely tweaks John McCain for having argued that the “fundamentals of our economy are strong.”  Last week, the Washington Post's Jonathan Weisman criticized Obama for using the line, insisting that the quote is “months old.”

Despite record month, Obama needs more cash  —  Barack Obama's $66 million haul in August donations may set records but it's only a down payment on the huge sums the Democratic presidential nominee must continue to collect in order to compete through the Nov. 4 election.

Bad voter applications found  —  Clerks see fraudulent, duplicate forms from group  —  Several municipal clerks across the state are reporting fraudulent and duplicate voter registration applications, most of them from a nationwide community activist group working to help low- and moderate-income families.

On the stump, Obama moves past hope  —  CHICAGO — The “hopemonger” is gone.  —  Barack Obama sounds more like a man trying to shake a rain cloud these days, dispensing a teeth-clenching, I-get-your-pain stump speech in town after town that offers only snippets of the unbridled optimism that long permeated his campaign pitch.

Chairman Rangel  —  Mounting embarrassment for taxpayers and Congress makes it imperative that Representative Charles Rangel step aside as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee while his ethical problems are investigated.  —  This recommendation does not come easily …

Luskin: Economy's Fine  —  Donald Luskin, seemingly upset that he hadn't been bashed recently in the progressive blogosphere, decided to write a baffling and extremely long column that ran over the weekend arguing that the economy's fine.  The Washington Post opinion section, for reasons I don't care to speculate on, decided to run it.

McCain Loses Fox News: Megyn Kelly Rips McCain Flack For Claiming Obama Would Raise Middle Class Taxes  —  On Fox News today, host Megyn Kelly called out McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds for the campaign's lies about Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) tax proposals.

Why Feminists Hate Sarah Palin  —  Left-wing feminists have a hard time dealing with strong, successful conservative women in politics such as Margaret Thatcher.  Sarah Palin seems to have truly unhinged more than a few, eliciting a stream of vicious, often misogynist invective.

Candidates Strive to Break Through Media Fog  —  Senator Barack Obama had come to Granby High School in Norfolk, Va., last week to talk about education.  But first, he said, “I've got to spend just a brief moment talking about politics.”  —  For the next few minutes, he offered …

Palin's Project List Totals $453 Million  —  McCain Campaign Says Record Shows Drop in Requests  —  Last week, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain said his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, hadn't sought earmarks or special-interest spending from Congress, presenting her as a fiscal conservative.

Biden speech to take hard hit at McCain  —  CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Joe Biden will deliver a high-profile first attack in a sustained anti-McCain offensive in a speech called “Bush 44” Monday in the key battleground state of Michigan.  —  While the lines of attack have long been drawn …