• Obama’s big speech last night was a success, as he compared McCain to Bush and it included a number of good burns. The subsequent fireworks also indicated success.  [Politico]
• Putin blamed (who else) President Bush for the Georgian conflict, and explained that this whole thing was created just to drum up support for a certain unnamed person running for President who is not Barack Obama. [New York Times]
• Today is McCain’s 72nd birthday, and he will celebrate by choosing a vice president, maybe 73 vice presidents (one for good luck). [Washington Post]
• New Orleans prepares itself for Tropical Storm Gustav with their old FEMA friends, while Gustav prepares for New Orleans by flooding Jamaica. [Times-Picayune]
• Oil prices will probably have their biggest weekly gain in two months, thanks to Gustav and all the rig evacuations in the Gulf of Mexico it is causing. [Bloomberg]
• The audience at Invesco Field last night was very pleased with Obama’s speech, and cheered and stayed silent at all the appropriate times. [New York Times]
• In his speech, Al Gore compared Obama to Lincoln and said that if the 2000 election had gone differently, Osama would be dead, Iraq would be not be such a mess, and we would be working towards solving global warming. [The Hill]

At today’s White House press conference, between chattering about a potential World War and throttling a lazy Congress, Bush found time to remind us that all photo opps are pretty much bullshit. MORE »

So, that tension between Bush and Putin? It’s over chicken. Putin’s pissed off because Bush only sends him bad chicken. Frank Purdue Bush is not. MORE »

We figured Keith Olbermann would end up the same way as that anti-Putin reporter — with a bullet in his head. MORE »

Photo:Russian Television/Associated Press MORE »