Russia, US Swap Warnings as Condoleezza Rice Visits Georgia | Europe | Deutsche Welle | 10.07.2008

Russia, US Swap Warnings as Condoleezza Rice Visits Georgia | Europe | Deutsche Welle | 10.07.2008
This is for background. On July 9, the Secretary of State was in Georgia trying to head off the military conflict that began a month later. The article describes some of the things the US and its allies in Eastern Europe have been doing that made Russia feel threatened. One big issue is the deal with the Czech Republic allowing the US to install part of a missile defense system there. That system is a major problem for Russia.

What a disappointing performance

With Georgia, Russia at war, where's Condoleezza Rice? | Countdown to Crawford | Los Angeles Times: "Rice went to Tbilisi, Georgia, in July, trying to calm the situation, seen here with President Mikheil Saakashvili at a press conference after their talks. Publicly, she talked about Georgia's 'territorial integrity.' State Department officials said she privately warned the Georgians not to provoke Russia.

But critics told the Wall Street Journal that Rice may not have responded quickly to Russia's muscle-flexing on Georgia's border because she has been focused elsewhere -- preoccupied with Iraq, Iran and the Arab-Israeli conflict -- and delegated the Soviet account to more junior officials."
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She delegated the Soviet account to more junior officials? Say what?

I wonder if those junior officials still have jobs in the State Department.

Obama ordains cease fire

John McCain 2008 - John McCain for President: "On Fox this morning, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine explained how Obama saved Georgia:

“It was a bad crisis for the world. It required tough words but also a smart approach to call on the international community to step in. And I’m very, very happy that the Senator's request for a ceasefire has been complied with by President Medvedev.”

Of course the Russians complied with his request. They've also started inflating their tires in order to reduce domestic demand and free up oil for export markets. It's like we don't even need to elect Obama to the White House--he can stop the rise of the seas, heal the planet, and bring us peace in our time just by issuing press releases from the comfort of his Hawaiian retreat."
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The arrogance of Obama and his entire campaign defies parody. Kaine is one of the top contenders to be The One's VP candidate. With John "Baby Daddy" Edwards presumably out of the running, I guess Kaine's chances went up, and now that he has set an all-time record for brown nosing, they went up another notch. I give him three brown noses out of a possible three.

McCain, not Obama, was right about Georgia :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Steve Huntley

McCain, not Obama, was right about Georgia :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Steve Huntley: "One who was up to speed on Georgia and the menace it faced from Russia was veteran Sen. John McCain. He had visited the Caucasian nation three times in a dozen years. When fighting erupted, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate got on the phone to gather details and issued a statement Friday summarizing the situation, tagging Russia as the aggressor and demanding it withdraw its forces from the sovereign territory of Georgia. It took first-term Sen. Barack Obama three tries to get it right. Headed for a vacation in Hawaii, the presumed Democratic candidate for commander in chief issued an even-handed statement, urging restraint by both sides. Later Friday, he again called for mutual restraint but blamed Russia for the fighting. The next day his language finally caught up with toughness of McCain's."
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Picky, picky, picky. So Obama fumbled around like President Bush. What really matters is that Obama is bringing Hope and Change!!!

By the way, why didn't Bush and his vaunted Russia expert, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, handle this situation better? They seem to have been caught by surprise by something they should have at least anticipated, and maybe been able to head off.

Commentary » Blog Archive » The MSM’s Latest Embarrassment

Commentary » Blog Archive » The MSM’s Latest Embarrassment: "The Edwards mess is the most recent and visible, but hardly unique, example of the mainstream media’s hear no evil/see no evil approach to newsgathering. How many other stories has the MSM missed, denied or avoided? From Rathergate to Reverend Wright to the success of the surge, the pattern is the same: MSM stalls, shuffles its collective feet, and doggedly ignores information for as long as possible until they can no longer do so with a straight face. The fact that these stories without exception work to the detriment of Democrats is apparently a grand coincidence."
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The outcry over the major media's covering for Edwards is getting more intense.

OBAMA!! The Movie. Coming to a theater near you!

Don Surber » Blog Archive » Quote du jour: "Republican Sen. John McCain: “Taking in my opponent’s performances is a little like watching a big summer blockbuster, and an hour in, realizing that all the best scenes were in the trailer you saw last fall.”"

Don't bet on this...

ABC News: Mistress' Family Challenges Edwards to Take DNA Test: "The family of John Edwards' former mistress, Rielle Hunter, is challenging the former senator to take a DNA paternity test after his claim that he did not father Hunter's 6-months-old child."
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Adulterer and liar John Edwards said he "would" take a paternity test, whatever that means. Would, if what?. Why didn't he just take the test and establish that he isn't the child's father...if that's what he really believes? Now he has been challenged by his mistress' family to follow through on his "would" and take the test. His bluff, if that's what it is, has just been called.

I think if he had any real intention of taking a test, he would already have done it. On the other hand, if he is lying (again) about the affair ending in 2006, and it really continued until about May of 2007, which seems to have been when the baby was conceived, then he might be a little nervous about that paternity test. That is one possible explanation for "would" instead of "did."

Maybe he figures if he just doesn't respond to the challenge, the media will let him off the hook. That would be consistent with their behavior so far.

While Americans watch the Olympics...

Georgia: Russia enters into 'war' in South Ossetia - Telegraph: "Columns of Russian tanks plunged the two neighbours into war as they filed into South Ossetia, marking the Kremlin's first military assault on foreign soil since the Soviet Union's Afghanistan intevention, which ended in 1989."
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This is ugly. Georgia has been independent of Russia since 1991. The region called Ossetia is partly in Russia (North Ossetia) and partly in Georgia (South Ossetia). South Ossetia acts like an independent nation and wants to be joined to North Ossetia as part of Russia. Georgia is trying to reclaim South Ossetia. They have just been confronted by Russia, which has sent tanks into South Ossetia. In other words, Russia just invaded the sovereign nation of Georgia.

Two other issues: Georgia is a US ally that wants to join NATO. And there is an oil pipeline through the area that Russia wants to control. Ugly.

Here's someone who gets it

Old media dethroned - Los Angeles Times: "When John Edwards admitted Friday that he lied about his affair with filmmaker Rielle Hunter, a former employee of his campaign, he may have ended his public life but he certainly ratified an end to the era in which traditional media set the agenda for national political journalism."
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The tabloids and the blogs and AM talk radio had the truth and they printed the truth. And the "traditional media," meaning print media and tv networks, had the truth and decided to withhold it from the public. Why? To protect the Democratic party. Edwards was, until yesterday, on Obama's short list for VP.

If the affair and love child had been Mitt Romney's, this story would have been front page news since 2006.

ABC News: Edwards Admits to Sexual Affair; Lied as Presidential Candidate

ABC News: Edwards Admits to Sexual Affair; Lied as Presidential Candidate: "John Edwards repeatedly lied during his Presidential campaign about an extra-marital affair with a novice film-maker, the former Senator admitted to ABC News today."
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Gee, what a surprise. If you rely on the mainstream media, that is. How about this part: "When the National Enquirer first reported the alleged Edwards-Hunter affair last October 11, Edwards, his campaign staff and Hunter vociferously denounced the report. "The story is false, it's completely untrue, it's ridiculous," Edwards told reporters then. He repeated his denials just two weeks ago. Edwards today admitted the National Enquirer was correct when it reported he had visited Hunter at the Beverly Hills Hilton last month."

So, Edwards is a serial liar and adulterer. The mainstream media are once again proven to be in the tank for the Democrats because they refused to report on the hotel incident and all the other evidence. And National Enquirer was proven to be right. And the blogs were right.