And now we get to the nub of the matter. Turns out this Georgian adventure isn't just about some nominal Russians in South Ossetia but a much larger goal...the removal of a democratically elected government that is too friendly with the west and not nearly servile enough to Russia.

(U.S. UN Ambassador Zalmay) Khalilzad disclosed during a U.N. Security Council session that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had told U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday morning "that a democratically elected president of Georgia — and I quote — must go."

"I'd like to say straightaway that regime change is an American expression," (Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly) Churkin said. "We do not use such an expression. But sometimes there are occasions, and we know from history, that there are different leaders who come to power, either democratically or semi-democratically, and they become an obstacle."

(Russian Foreign Minister Sergei) Lavrov later told reporters in Moscow that Rice had misinterpreted his remarks. Referring to Georgia's president, Lavrov said Russia can no longer view "a man who issued orders to commit war crimes" as a negotiating partner and therefore "without the departure of Saakashvili it is impossible to stop the conflict in South Ossetia."

I don't think this actually comes as a surprise to anyone but it's nice to have the Russians openly admitting it.

Gori, had been attacked by Russian jets and artillery during the first two days of fighting now appears to be about to come under ground attack by the Russians. This would represent a major escalation in the war as Gori is located in Georgia proper and not within South Ossetia.

Meanwhile, Georgians are wondering, where is the U.S.?

As a Russian jet bombed fields around his village, Djimali Avago, a Georgian farmer, asked me: “Why won’t America and Nato help us? If they won’t help us now, why did we help them in Iraq?”

The man asks a fair question. There's a legitimate answer but it's an ugly and ignoble one...there's not much we can do.

Posted by: DrewM at 06:00 PM | Comments (106)
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Is this lame? You bet, but it's the best I can do from here in Mobile Alabama. Although I do fear having a jihad or fatwa declared on me from Obama's sycophantic worshipers, I just can't help myself, I just love poking fun at this guy!

Posted by: Open Blog at 04:52 PM | Comments (27)
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Yup. His production company bought the rights to a sympathetic/haigographic book about Hamdan.

And Hamdan Super Fan Clooney is giving Obama advise weekly on how to speak and move like an actor. Small world. Thick as thieves and tight as ticks.

Mild Suggestive Imagery Content Warning for Obama's and Clooney's new logo. (A variation Cameo did on his goatse-photoshop.)

Posted by: Ace at 04:29 PM | Comments (29)
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The Yemen Times is reporting that AQ in the kindgom have all been ordered to take a break at the Middle Eastern garden spot, financial nexus, and 5-star everything of Dubai for some well deserved R&R.

...According to observers, Yemen has been nominated in the near future as suitable ground for typical Al-Qaeda operations, particularly since Al-QaedaÂ’s Saudi Arabia branch recently has called upon its supporters to move to Yemen to avoid arrest by Saudi security authorities...

Oh wait...did I say Dubai? My bad. I've been thinking of visiting Dubai, the AQ slime are fleeing the kingdom because its no longer safe for them there and they've all been ordered to beat feet to the garden spot and 5-star everything tourist destination of Yemen and setup shop there instead.

Wait, what do you mean Yemen isn't a garden spot? Its a thugocracy run by a dictator with a 5th grade education who used to be a pirate? WTF? And the Yemani notion of 5-star is having clean sheets available upon request and putting down a deposit? And you stand a better chance of being murdered there than in Baghdad while wearing an Israeli flag draped over your shoulders?

Seriously AQ dudes -- you need to get with your travel booking clerk and sort this mess out. Someone is seriously jerking your chain if they've sent you to Yemen. more...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 02:13 PM | Comments (16)
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It's a Russian language report and unconfirmed at this point but it's just a reminder that there's still plenty of time for this to get even uglier.

An American has been taken prisoner by the Russian military. The American, noted to be African American, is thought to be one of the American trainers working in Georgia for the United States. The article notes he is being transferred to Vladikavkaz for further questioning.

The Georgians have made repeated efforts to arrange a "cease fire" but alas, the Russians are too busy attacking targets within Georgia to get back to them.

Russia has continued air raids deep inside Georgia, after it rejected Tbilisi's announcement that it had called a ceasefire and wanted talks.

Jets bombed targets near Tbilisi, including the airport, and Russia said its warships had sunk a Georgian boat that approached and tried to attack.

Russia earlier took control of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, forcing Georgian troops to withdraw.

The US has accused Russia of seeking "regime change" in Georgia.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili told the BBC his forces had observed a ceasefire since 0500 on Sunday morning, but had still been bombed by Russian planes. He said his government had been trying "all day" to contact Russia to discuss a ceasefire.

Let it not be said western leaders have been totally feckless in their abandonment of the nominal allies in Georgia. No, many of them have taken the bold step of urging the Russians to stop and play nice. That should do the trick.

I understand that discussions are underway to determine which western Foreign Minister will be dispatched to Moscow to get Comrade Brezhnev's Putin's signature on a piece of paper declaring peace in our time.

I know the tone of this post is snarky, it's not because I don't appreciate the gravity of the situation but rather the opposite. The fact that for the moment the Russians have out maneuvered us is clear. I don't really blame US and other countries for not being able to do much, the other guys just beat us this time.

What I think is essential, though unlikely to happen, is that we face up to what this means.

Russia has been billed as a quasi-friend and budding ally over the last 15 or so years. There have been plenty of warnings, there always are that we in the west are mistaken about this, but it's too hard and to uncomfortable to deal with that unpleasant reality. So instead of hearing leaders admit they got the drop on us this time but now we're in the game, we'll hear talk about diplomatic efforts to get things back to where they were before this 'unfortunate incident'. Russia will still get invited to G8 summits, even though it's not really a free country as we understand the term. We'll probably slow the expansion of NATO and it will be harder to get bases in eastern Europe for our missile defense shield. In short, Russia aggression will be rewarded and emboldened and that is not a good thing.

Posted by: DrewM at 02:02 PM | Comments (51)
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Yes, her 5 "booger" clones hit the worldwide newswires. Sure, it raises "ethical questions" about cloning.

Big deal.

Now, however, Bernann McKinney has made the AoS grade.

She's the same woman who 31 years earlier was accused of abducting a Mormon missionary in England, handcuffing him to a bed and making him her sex slave.

Dog lover Bernann McKinney acknowledged in a telephone call to The Associated Press on Saturday that she is indeed Joyce McKinney, who in 1977 became a British tabloid sensation when she faced charges of unlawful imprisonment in the missionary case.

Archival footage of the incident below the break due to its graphic nature. more...

Posted by: Open Blog at 01:31 PM | Comments (16)
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A much-respected dextroblogger has received one of the dreaded intimidation letters.

Posted by: Open Blog at 12:14 PM | Comments (16)
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The 186-member Democratic Party Platform Committee pulled together a draft platform this past week. There have been some interesting changes in the DemocratsÂ’ statement of principles since 2004. The change in healthcare is one of the largest leftward shifts. As the presumptive nominee, the Obama campaign was allowed to direct most of the platform.

In 2004 the grand plan was to give healthcare tax credits and for government to "pick[] up the tab for the highest-cost medical cases." This year, they still want to give healthcare tax credits, but they also want to forbid "insurance discrimination." They write that "Health insurance plans should accept all applicants and be prohibited from charging different prices based on pre-existing conditions."

As any economist will tell you, this would represent the end of the health insurance industry as we know it. Unlike every other business in the U.S., insurers would be forced to do business with people, whether they want to or not. Premiums for everyone would rise, quality of care would fall. Of course, the long-term goal of the far left is to trash the health insurance industry so that a glorious nationalized healthcare system can take its place.

As they do every four years, the committee fatuously claims that Democrats will be able to magically conjure up savings by "cutting costs and eliminating waste." This year they even put a number to it and say that the average family will save "up to $2,500 per year." They got that number by adding the IQ of everyone on the committee.*

The draft platform is here.

UPDATE: Clinton supporters are grousing that the draft platform does not promise mandatory universal coverage at government expense, which is what Clinton pledged in the primary. No Quarters (No Links!) leads the charge with this whine which fairly screams for carmel-covered popcorn:

ThatÂ’s pretty easy when the candidate breaks election laws like having people INSIDE polling places with literature, or having people ripping down Clinton signs outside polling places, as well as ripping INTO Clinton supporters; or locking out the opponentÂ’s supporters; or stealing packets to get signatures of people NOT in the caucus meeting, etc., etc.); treating states that were more for Clinton disparately from other states in the same situation; and STEALING VOTES FROM ONE CANDIDATE TO GIVE TO ANOTHER NOT ON THE BALLOT are just a FEW of the reasons we are angry.

If Hillary Clinton had lost fair and square, we would accept that. It was that the FIX seemed to be (and SEEMS to be) in for this sham of a candidate. THAT is why we are angry, Ms. Wheaton (of the NY Times). Try actually doing some real journalism next time, will ya??

Losers can't be choosers.

*Lame joke adjusted to make it clearer.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 08:39 AM | Comments (18)
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I probably should have included a map earlier. This one, borrowed from the CIA World Factbook, marks all the areas of interest, including the breakaway regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia; the capital Tbilisi; Gori, which has seen bombing of civilian targets; and Poti, Georgia's main port and oil terminal, which has also been bombed. Georgian officials say that Russia's Black Sea forces are blockading the coast near Abkhazia and that Zugdidi is being bombed. The Ukrainian foreign ministry has threatened to prevent the Black Sea fleet from returning to its base in Sevastopol, something that could spread the conflict.

Georgia has almost entirely withdrawn from South Ossetia now and continuously asks for a ceasefire. Yesterday, an official with the Russian foreign ministry responded to CNN anchors asking about the prospective cease fire: "I haven't heard of a ceasefire proposal." Alexander Darchiev, of the Russian Embassy to the U.S., says that the conflict will end when Georgia gives up any claim to South Ossetia.

Meanwhile, Russian attacks outside of the disputed area continue. Civilians just outside of South Ossetia are fleeing on the belief that Russia will not be content with South Ossetia. Certainly, Russia intends to see Abkhazia take the same route to secession, but so far Russia has only made air attacks outside of South Ossetia. Its troops have so far stayed inside the disputed area.

Five things must be emphasized. First, this is not just about South Ossetia, as the Russian activity in Abkhazia and the Black Sea show. Russia is looking for an excuse now to exert control over the rest of Georgia, and it's waging a successful PR campaign designed to placate Western sensibilities. Russia says that it is merely protecting the the Ossetians from ethnic cleansing. It casts itself as procuring freedom for an oppressed people. But its actions do not comport with that image. At the very least, it is getting in some free licks against Georgia's infrastructure and military. At worst, Russia is softening Georgia up for an all-out invasion.

More under the fold. more...

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:23 AM | Comments (74)
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So much for the evil big oil ploy. Of course Obama will be giving all that money back because he's so principled and pure, right? Right? This couldn't possibly have anything to do with Obama policies that would keep the price of oil high, right? Obama just keep writing McCain's campaign material for him. Maybe McCain can just fire his whole campaign staff as a cost reduction measure and rely on Obama?

...they may have found an unwelcome surprise in a just-released analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Turns out, the biggest recipient of contributions from Exxon executives and employees during this campaign is not McCain. It's Obama.

The non-partisan center writes: "Through June, Exxon employees have given Obama $42,100 to McCain's $35,166. Chevron favors Obama $35,157 to $28,500, and Obama edges out McCain with BP $16,046 vs. $11,500."...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 02:17 AM | Comments (23)
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