Governor of Unknown Party Affiliation to Decide if Mayor of Unknown Party Affiliation Should Be Removed from Office
— Ace

Oddly, despite both politicians belonging to the same party -- the Unknown Party Affiliation Party -- which certainly might cause the decision to be based on party loyalty to the Unknown Party, no mention of this fact is made.

Posted by: Ace at 12:45 PM | Comments (16)
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This Made Me Cry
— LauraW

Very affecting video below the fold, via Mr. Treacher at Blowing Smoke. more...

Posted by: LauraW at 11:52 AM | Comments (15)
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Cold War II: The Reemerging Soviet Sphere of Influence
— Gabriel Malor

America had a unique opportunity at the end of the Cold War. Russian control over its satellite states crumbled after glasnost brought nationalists to power in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. The dismemberment of Warsaw left Russia without its comforting territorial shield and internal disarray kept it from remedying the situation. The fledgling governments of the former soviet republics and the satellite states were not necessarily pro-West, but they were uniformly anti-Russian. So whatever remnant sphere of influence Russia had was sharply limited.

Once upon a time, the Kremlin could say to the U.S. "this is our area, that's yours, stay on your side of the line." And it would have stuck. But that was all over at the end of the Cold War. Since then, the shaky new capitalist economies of those first years have exploded. We've gone so far as to admit states that the Russians thought of as theirs into NATO. Most recently, military and security cooperation under the guise of terrorism prevention has created a new military frontier in the former soviet sphere of influence. But this one isn't meant to keep the U.S out. Rather, if completed it would box the Russians in.

Unfortunately, the Russians are not blind nor are they stupid. Members of the Georgian military are running around in surplus U.S. Army uniforms. We train their troops. We and the Israelis sell them weapons. And next year Georgia's goal of joining NATO would have been a real possibility. By slapping down Georgia now, Russia is announcing that it plans to reestablish as much of its old sphere of influence as it can.

Putin's insistence that Georgian President Saakashvili be removed from office, to be replaced by a pro-Russia stooge no doubt, is only the beginning. This current war started over questions about the de facto independence of South Ossetia. When it's over we will be discussing the de facto independence of Georgia. What is most disturbing is that the other nations which formerly came under the soviet sphere of influence have only been able to muster token protests of the Russian invasion. Unfortunately, they are unwilling or unable to stand together. Russia will take them apart.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 11:44 AM | Comments (32)
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Russians Take Georgian City Of Gori
— DrewM

As sad as it was obvious.

Russian forces overran the strategic Georgian city of Gori today as troops prepared to defend the capital Tbilisi from what one official called a "total onslaught".

Georgian soldiers fled Gori, 17 miles from the border with rebel South Ossetia, in panic and disarray, clinging to the sides of cars and vehicles as they sped out of town. A Georgian armoured personnel carrier was in flames on the street, a victim of the sudden rout.

Alexander Lomaia, secretary of the Georgian security council, said that the Georgian army had been told instead to concentrate its efforts on holding Mtskheta, 15 miles from the capital.

"Russian forces are occupying Gori. Georgian armed forces received an order to leave Gori and to fortify positions near Mtskheta to defend the capital. This is a total onslaught," Mr Lomaia said.

Gori is not in either of the 'breakaway' regions of South Ossetia or Abkhazia but inside of undisputed Georgian territory.

The US maintains it's displeasure at the situation, for all the good that will do.

The president spoke to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin twice on Aug. 8 in Beijing, telling Putin the ``violence is unacceptable,'' Bush said in an interview in Beijing with NBC News.

``I expressed my grave concern about the disproportionate response of Russia, and that we strongly condemn bombing outside of South Ossetia,'' Bush told NBC.

Bush, who is in Beijing attending sporting events at the Olympic Games, told NBC's Bob Costas that it was ``interesting to me that here we are, trying to promote peace and harmony, and we're witnessing a conflict take place.''

After nearly 7 years as a wartime President can he still be surprised at how thugs work?

Posted by: DrewM at 10:33 AM | Comments (59)
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Retarded Groups Protest Tropic Thunder
— Gabriel Malor

I expect that the movie's promoters are gleefully rubbing their hands together. This kind of thing is usually great for sales:

A coalition of disabilities groups is expected as early as Monday to call for a national boycott of the film “Tropic Thunder” because of what the groups consider the movie’s open ridicule of the intellectually disabled. [...]

“Not only might it happen, it will happen,” Timothy P. Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics, said of the expected push for a boycott. Speaking by phone, Mr. Shriver said he planned to be in Los Angeles with representatives of his group and others to picket the movie’s premiere on Monday evening in this city’s Westwood district.

A particular sore point has been the film’s repeated use of the term “retard” in referring to a character, Simple Jack, who is played by Mr. Stiller in a subplot about an actor who chases an Oscar by portraying a mindless dolt.

Mr. Shriver said that he had also begun to ask members of Congress for a resolution condemning what he called the movie’s “hate speech” and calling for stronger federal support of the intellectually disabled.

One of the groups protesting is the Arc of the United States, which until 1992 was the Association of Retarded Citizens. Heh.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 09:47 AM | Comments (74)
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Obama's VP Selection Imminent. Be The First To Know...Sign Up For TXT Message Updates.
— DrewM

This was in the headlines but I thought I'd bump it up and open the floor to guesses as to who Obama is going to pick.

Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, is on vacation in Hawaii tonight. We believe. But, thanks to loyal Ticket reader Mark, just minutes ago we learned that the freshman senator's presidential campaign has confirmed that announcement of Obama's running mate choice is very near.

...The traditional scenario would be for Obama and his pick to appear at a grand joint announcement somewhere with their families and dozens of TV cameras.

However, if hypothetically the announcement was to be made dramatically via cellphone texts, e-mails and the Obama website, the two candidates would not need to be together.

And if it came, oh, say, sometime this week, it would instantly dominate the news stream and erase any advantage Republican Sen. John McCain might have gotten from a week of campaigning without the Democrats' competition.

I've got Virginia Governor Tim Kaine with the announcement coming next Monday morning. Whichever commenter guess the right candidate as well as the day of the announcement will receive all Ace of Spades HQ content absolutely free for one month. Good luck!

Posted by: DrewM at 09:46 AM | Comments (59)
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CNN Asks: “Edwards Affair: Was Media Part of a ‘Conspiracy of Silence?’” (genghis)
— Open Blog

Subtitled: “Welcome to the Party, Pal.”

Wow. Just simply fucking wow. ItÂ’s hard to know where to start with this, so IÂ’ll just link the article up front here and slog through it. The navel gazing starts here, (the denials and hypocrisy come later):

”Rumors about John Edwards' love affair had been circulating for months, but it wasn't until the former Democratic presidential candidate admitted to the affair that national news organizations jumped on the story.

After the National Enquirer reported catching Edwards making a late-night visit to see his ex-mistress last month, the blogosphere exploded, asking why the mainstream media was not reporting the story.”

I just hate it when blogospheres explodeÂ…any word on casualties? Everyone doing ok out there? At least we didnÂ’t get sucked into the man-made black hole that was created in Europe over the weekend. Unless we did, and IÂ’m writing this from the event horizon and donÂ’t know it yet. But thatÂ’s another story and I appear to have A.D.D. Continuing, CNN asks some probing questions:

”Was it because of a condescending attitude toward a tabloid's reporting? Bias toward a Democratic candidate? Or sympathy toward Elizabeth Edwards, who is battling an incurable form of cancer?”

Nah, none of that you bunch of silly cretins. Here we have a helpful explanation from a respected news source:

”David Carr, a columnist for The New York Times, said many news organizations "tend to pick up stories from the National Enquirer with tongs."

"They have been very right about some things ... but there's been some misses too, so it's a little scary to follow on those stories," he said Sunday on CNN's Reliable Sources.

"It's also a little scary for big outfits to step up on a story like this. Sex may sell, but it can really hurt your relationship with readers," he added. “

Well, I’m satisfied with that explanation. Even without tongs, respected “big outfits” would never touch an alleged sex scandal without exhaustive research, multiple layers of fact-checking and reliable sources of information. Even then, though, such a tawdry and unseemly story would never make its way to the front page.

And other highly-esteemed news organizations wish to weigh in as well:

”Asked by CNN's Howard Kurtz if sympathy for Elizabeth Edwards played any part in an apparent reluctance to report the story, ABC correspondent Kate Snow said no.

"We at ABC were working on this story, and if we had had any proof and any verifiable facts, we certainly would have gone with the story," she said. "It was just a matter of, we're not going to put something on the air until we know that it's true."

I love the smell of integrity in the morning. Smells likeÂ…bacon? I knew I shouldÂ’ve eaten something before I started writing this. Time for that later. But thereÂ’s more from ABC:

”Brian Ross, ABC's chief investigative correspondent, said his investigative team was pushing hard following the money trail, looking at such things as who paid for Hunter's fancy California home and the use of campaign funds.”

“As Ross worked on the money angle, his colleague Bob Woodruff landed an interview with Edwards. With Edwards' on-camera admission, the story changed from a rumored affair to a former presidential candidate caught in a lie. "Until he called -- and it's on the record that he called us on Friday and said, 'I want to talk.' You know, that's what broke the story. He was willing to admit that he had been lying," Snow said.

Ah, so thatÂ’s what broke the story! Hopefully Mr. Ross doesnÂ’t dislocate his shoulder trying to pat himself and his organization on the back.
But wait! A small glimmer of light and understanding from Mr. Kurtz? Could it be?

”Kurtz said news organizations were clinging to a very important standard: Don't run allegations that you can't prove. "But it became a ludicrous situation ... almost became a conspiracy of silence by the media. And Edwards, meanwhile, would not give interviews, was not acting like a man who didn't have something to hide. "I think at that point we should have -- earlier than we did -- told readers and viewers what we knew and we didn't know," he said.”

Almost done here:

”But with questions still looming about the identity of the child's father and the Enquirer standing by its reporting, the blogosphere will probably keep this story alive.”

Ya think? Finally, Mr. Carr of the New York Times leaves us with a parting thought:

”"I was taught when I was a young reporter that it's news when we say it is. I think that's still true -- it's news when 'we' say it is. It's just who 'we' is has changed," Carr said.

"Members of the public, people with modems, people with cell phones are now producers, editors. They can push and push and push on a story until it ends up being acknowledged by everyone."

With understanding comes wisdom.

Posted by: Open Blog at 11:20 PM | Comments (68)
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Top Headline Comments 08-11-08
— Gabriel Malor

This past weekend was something else. Shall we keep the wars to a minimum this week, hmmm?

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 10:11 PM | Comments (9)
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300+ illegal aliens registered to vote in Bexar County TX
— Purple Avenger

And 40+ of them actually cast ballots in election(s).

...In a review of the past six years, Callanen said 330 undocumented people had registered to vote, and that 41 of them had voted — even though they later acknowledged they were not U.S. citizens.

The 330 people had received jury duty summons cards because their names were culled from the county's voter registration rolls.

Callanen said 41 people admitted voting, some in multiple elections, between 2001 and 2007. Each one said they were unaware they could not register or vote...

... Republican legislators in a number of states, including Texas, have tried repeatedly to toughen the law by requiring voters to present one or more forms of identification. They say it is necessary to preserve the integrity of elections.

Democrats generally oppose such ballot security measures — calling them a back door effort to disenfranchise the elderly and minorities, who traditionally vote Democratic and who tend not to carry multiple forms of identification with their picture...

Of course they were "unaware". Everyone knows you can vote in any country you damn well please anytime you want. The USA is so backward about this whole citizen of the world thing.

Naturally, they were all getting jury summons too. How many convictions will be overturned on appeal now because of tainted these juries these citizens of the world sat on?

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 07:13 PM | Comments (34)
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Interview with the Valley Girl War Protester (genghis)
— Open Blog

Foreward: In case it helps, and I'm sure it will as you're trying to puncture your eardrums with an ice-pick while listening to this interview, our young friend managed to get himself Tasered while protesting at the Port of Olympia against military hardware returning from Iraq.

Like, I wasnÂ’t sure if I should, like, post this, uh, like, interview, but, like, you know, like, it seemed kind of, like, uh, interesting and, uh, like, you might kind of, uh, like it and it seemed like it was, like, important or, like, something.

Not the actual war protester interviewed, but, like, dreamy nonetheless
(courtesy of the Dori Monson showÂ…no spoons were intentionally, like, you know, gagged on in this interview)

Update: I considered deleting the first comment by Diderot's dog, but I think I'll let it stay there as the bright shining example of trollish stupidity it is. Nicely done, sir, nicely done!

Posted by: Open Blog at 06:39 PM | Comments (20)
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