You know that confusing kerfuffle that happened between Russia and Georgia that no one over here really understood except that it enabled John McCain to talk about THE COLD WAR and tyranny vs. freedoms and being a Cold Warrior while Obama just happened to be sunning himself on vacation? Now Russian Prime Minister For Life Vladimir Putin has declared that the U.S. intentionally provoked the conflict — with the express purpose of helping out McCain.

Read the rest of this entry »

ROMNEY: Well, Hugh, my own view is as the Caucuses are a hot spot, and as Russians have shown their willingness to act militarily against a sovereign nation, that the International Olympic Committee ought to revisit locating the Games elsewhere.

Mitt, of course, has it all wrong. We have to use the Olympics in a carrot and stick approach, just like we used to turn China into a civil rights paradise. Forget economic sanctions, we can bring a country to its knees if we threaten to take away their balance beam competitions. [ThinkProgress]

The Dear Leader just announced that he’s sending Condi to France, then Georgia, for a bunch of meetings. She leaves tonight.

This should solve everybody’s problems!

PSP links to the following:

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has also been noticeably absent on the diplomatic scene, having failed to interrupt her holidays to fly to Tbilisi in support of the Georgian government.

So I guess today she figured things were bad enough to force her back to work. Go Condi!

I just thought I would share this AP photograph from the New York Times with you this morning because, well, I guess I just want to brighten up your day. This was taken sometime in the past day or so at the G8 Summit in Japan and, as you can clearly see, not only is George Bush is till president of the United States, he is still hopelessly drawn to the doey eyes and and firm yet tender grip of autocratic Russian leaders. 

But there’s much to made here of gal pal and Russian Sort-of-President Dmitiri Medvedev’s expression. It’s clear that he’s only half-heartedly flirting with the revered American leader, sort of the way a girl might flirt with some adorable guy she meets in a bar who tells her that he’s leaving the country in the morning: gotta do it of course, but not with same vigor and commitment as if you had all the time in the world.

With only six months left on George’s term, there’s no real sense in getting too intimate. Plus, it just wouldn’t be right for Dmitri anyway, knowing that every time they made love George would have Vlad on his mind., And Medvedev’s not one for Vladdy’s sloppy seconds anyway. Haha, no, just kidding. Of course he is.

Cuba is a land of Communists who are also great dancers, like Barry Obama. Recently. the King President General of Cuba, Fidel Castro, admitted he has been dead for six months and seceded his throne to his brother Raul. Raul Castro is also old, so it won’t be long until Cuba needs a hot young leader. It’s like when the Pope died and they hired that other guy and now everyone’s just waiting for him to die so the Catholic religion can be cool again. Anyway, there’s this:

At the start of last Thursday’s Democratic debate, Barack Obama offered to meet with the Cuban leadership without preconditions—a break with the past that his rivals would do well to consider. Imagine that the next President of the United States declares that the embargo will continue until Cubans overthrow their current government. Now imagine that the next President offers non-intervention in Cuba’s internal affairs, significant financial assistance for hurricane disaster relief and health care, and helpful mediation in the difficult dialogue that is sure to come between the Florida exile community and the islanders.

Vote for Barry, because we are tired of Puerto Rico, and El Principe Presidente Obama will improve America’s vacations. [The New Yorker]

This is just a short note to let y’all know that the Danish police broke up a plot to kill the dude that drew those Muhammad cartoons in 2005. Two thousand motherfucking five, people. And they’re not even, like, real al Qaida or anything, it’s just two Tunisians and a Dane of Moroccan origin. At least the Danish police are better (more concerned?) about assassinations than the Dutch police that failed to stop the assassination a prominent politician or a filmmaker despite the threats made against both of them. I’m sure Rudy Giuliani would have something to say about it if he was still in the race, but he’s probably really busy today trying to find a way to make money off of it. [BBC News]

With 11 months left in his presidency, there’s no time like the present to discover the power of diplomacy. In his 2009 budget which President George W. Bush will send to Congress today, the president sets aside funds for more than 1000 new diplomatic positions at the State Dept. If approved by Congress, this will be the first increase in staffing there since levels started dropping like a stone in 2004, a year after the administration demonstrated the value placed on diplomacy in general and the State Dept. as an institution by disregarding the foreign policy body’s occupation plan for Iraq, replacing it instead with the Defense Dept’s bolder, more risky No-Plan-Whatsoever plan. Fast forward to now, and we find that Bush’s legacy year “scramble” requires something a little more, shall we say, “traditional” in terms of communicating with the troublesome others who continue to inhabit the planet, hampering Bush’s thoroughly researched strategies. Read the rest of this entry »