The Real Banana: Exclusive!! Weekend Monkey Interviews John Edwards!!

WM:Hideyho, primates and welcome to the Real Banana, your window into the steamy jungle of politics. This week, I have a real treat for you peeples...an exclusive interview with an old pal from the campaign trail, Senator John Edwards, who joins us now.


















JE:Hello,Monkey. Haven't seen you since Iowa








WM: Yeah.seems like years ago, huh?














JE: Heh heh,yeah.... been a long campaign..









WM: Let's get right to the real poop,Senator. Those National Enquirer creeps tracked you down visiting an old pal, Rielle Hunter at an El Lay Hotel at two in the morning, you have to flee to the men's room and subsequently, you copped to an affair....









JE: Yeah, back in 2006.It was a long time ago Monkey.It's something that causes me pain to this day.













WM: I mean,the Obama camp was yakkin' about you as Veep. What happened?
I mean getting caught there at two AM??










JE: Well Monkey, we don't always plan this stuff. I stopped in to the lobby to buy some sunglasses and realized that a couple of old friends were staying there, so I thought I'd drop by. Like I said the affair thingee happened a long time ago. Campaigning's a tough job, sometimes we all fall victim to seeking a little release...












WM:Why did you need to buy sunglasses at 2 AM?













--------- ----------------------------














JE: ..............uh uh Well, I was planning to be up at sunrise, you how the sun hits you in LA in the morning....












WM: Yeah, almost like a flashbulb going off. I still can't believe you got caught in the men's room of a Beverly Hills hotel with your weenus in your hands . What were you thinkin'?? And how'd you get involved with this Rielle anyway in the first place?











JE: Campaigning's a tough job, Monkey, you know that. It just sort of happened.....like I said, it causes me pain to this day.













WM: But John. you're a hotshot #@@!! lawyer. Couldn't you threaten to sue this Rielle chickie? Claim entrapment, maybe channel the unborn kid as being happy in heaven after an abortion or something like that?













JE: $#!! Monkey, you don't think I tri - uh that is not my child and I'm willin' to take a paternity test to prove it.












WM: One source described it as looking like a mini-you in a onesie and I gotta admit...


























JE: All lies, Monkey. Just more trash journalism from the tabloids.













WM: Rielle says she won't allow a paternity test anyhow.













JE: Damn right she won't. And as we both know, I support a woman's right to choose. Especially in this case.














WM: Uhhh, ye-eah. So, what's the deal with this guy Andy Young? He says he's the daddy...














JE: Well,maybe he is. Like I said, this all happened a coupla years ago and there's no telling what was goin' on.















WM: Is he like, a Muslim or something?















JE: I dunno, why?













WM: Welllll...apparently he's living with Rielle Hunter and her kid is a rented mansion in Santa Barbara ..along with his wife. The guy must have hidden charms.














JE: He must have.















WM: Hidden charms and no discernible income?















JE: Maybe. I don't know that much about his personal situation. (laughs)















WM: Whee, what a player!















JE: We all got our talents, Monkey.















WM: I guess that's just another example of that other America we don't know about.














JE: Hey, Monkey...some people would say you're part of that other America we don't know about...I mean, you're living with that ex-campaign girl of yours, that Linda Gruppstein...and that Baby Monkey... and by the way, whatever happened to that Korean chick that Sukie Egg Foo Young or whatever her name was?

WM: Nice one, John. Sue Kee Yung was an Obama operative, and that was what the whole thing was about in the end. I was just doing a little too well in Iowa.















JE:Yeah, there sure wasn't any love lost between you and Obama! But I always meant to ask you...













WM: No and no, John. Gruppstein is my personal assistant and I just didn't want to see the little guy end up in a science lab, so I assumed custody.














JE: Commendable of you, Monkey.













WM: Now that that sordid poop is out of the way,let's get to the real issues.John, Gruppstein wanted me to ask you...how exactly do you get your hair looking that way?














JE: Oh, it's a long process Monkey, sort of a concerted process. First off, I only shampoo my hair in mare's milk and royal jelly rather than water only. Then, twice a month I go to the salon to get that hot oil treatment, then I...wait a minute! Wasn't this supposed to be a political interview? What the...










WM: No big deal John, Gruppstein just wanted what I guess we'd call a look at the inside dope. Back to politics...now that it looks like you're out of the running, who's Obama Yo' Mama gonna pick as his running mate?











JE: First of all, Monkey, I don't think you should talk about Our Fearless Leader that way. And to answer your question,I think he's gonna pick someone who helps him politically.











WM: If you're right, the logical pick would be Hillary.













JE: Boy, you really don't mind climbing out on a limb, do you?

WM: Hey, it's what I do, John. Lookit...she's making her big speech on the same night as the VP nominee, she and Bill got all this space at the convention, and 25% of her backers haven't signed on for Obama if you believe the polls. There isn't anybody else who remotely helps Obama as much as she could on the ticket.

JE: Yee-aah, if you forget the fact that they kinda hate each other.

WM: That's for sure! If I was Obama, I'd get a food taster! Seriously, the only drawback is whether Hillary would take it. If Obama wins and gets re-elected, she can kiss the presidency good-bye. if he loses, she pops up like a bad dream in 2012.

JE: Maybe...I think Obama's more likely to pick Mark Warner or Tim Kaine to help him carry Virginia or Evan Bayh to have a shot at Indiana.

WM: I'd say Warner if any of those. Bayh doesn't have the attack dog persona and neither does Kaine. But if it ain't Hillary, I figure it's gonna be a heavyweight like Biden...for gravitas.

JE: -----------

WM: -------

JE:Ahhh hah hah hah hoo hah hah!Gravitas!Monkey, you are too much!

WM: Ooo he hee hee hee hee! Yeah, hah hah hah!













Whew! You know, the funny thing is, it probably will be Biden.













WM:Ah hah ha...! Yeah...and I can already see the Rethugs rubbing their hands and getting the attack ads ready. Seriously, What's next for you , John?














JE: Well, I think I'm gonna take a little hiatus from politics, you know. I want to try and make my wife Elizabeth's last months as happy as possible and then see what the future holds for someone like me, who rose from being a coal miner's son to crusading for justice, truth and equality and rose to become a senator and almost vice president if it wasn't for John Kerry running such a crappy campaign and not appealing to the other America the way I begged him to do but he never listened to me now and I...









WM: So, it'll just be you and your millions, hmmm?














JE:It's the American way, Monkey. You work hard, get your law degree, sue the pants off the right people and you get ahead. Think of it as my own personal redistribution of the wealth plan...just a way of putting my principles into action, y'know?










WM:Yup, I get it. As a matter of fact, I think we all get it.Thanks John, for joining us on the Real Banana and sharing the secrets of your success...












JE: You're most welcome Monkey..take care now.

Obama Lies On Abortion - And The Media Is Ignoring It

You would think it would be front page news if a major presidential candidate's campaign admitted that he'd been lying through his teeth since 2003 about a vote he once made. Especially if he just countered the accusation that he was lying on national TV by accusing others of misrepresenting his record.

And it would in fact be true...unless the candidate has a small `d' after his name and happens to be the Chosen One.

At question is a piece of legislation called the Induced Infant Liability Act introduced back in 2002 when Obama was in the Illinois State Senate.The act extended legal protection to infants who survived procedures like partial birth abortion and mandated their being given live-saving medical attention, rather than simply left to die.

But Obama voted against this bill in the Illinois senate and killed it in committee. Twice, the Induced Infant Liability Act came up in the Judiciary Committee on which he served. The first time he voted “present.” The second time it came up he voted “no.”

The bill was then referred to the senate’s Health and Human Services Committee, which Obama chaired after the Illinois Senate went Democratic in 2003. As chairman, he never called the bill up for a vote and saw to it that it was killed in committee.

Later that same year, 2002, a similar Federal law called the Born Alive Infant Protection Act,(BAIP) was signed by President Bush. Only 15 members of the U.S. House opposed it ( all Democrats, I might add), but it was such a basic piece of humane legislation that even the hags at NARAL didn't have the heart to oppose it.It passed the Senate unanimously,98-0 on a voice vote.

Here's the kicker...Obama has always told anyone who questioned his motivation in voting to let infants who miraculously survived attempts to kill them die of neglect that he voted against the Induced Infant Liability Act because a Federal “neutrality clause” regarding Roe V. Wade wasn’t in the Illinois bill, and has said on many occasions that he would have gladly voted for the bill if it were.

Just one problem..the neutrality clause WAS in the bill, the same as it was in the Federal legislation..and Obama still voted against it.

YNot only that,but he's still lying about why he voted against it. Here's the load he peddled to James Brody on CNN. Note the sweating brow and the stuttering:



Obama's campaign, the day after this interview did a 180 degree turn around:

His campaign yesterday acknowledged that he had voted against an identical bill in the state Senate, and a spokesman, Hari Sevugan, said the senator and other lawmakers had concerns that even as worded, the legislation could have undermined existing Illinois abortion law. Those concerns did not exist for the federal bill, because there is no federal abortion law.

Don't you just love how these people are trying to spin this? Now all of a sudden, Obama, after six years of openly lying about it now says that he would have voted against giving medical care to defenseless babies even with the Roe V. Wade neutrality clause!

No matter what your views on abortion, this is morally disgusting,not only that a man, a father would support this kind of infanticide but that he would deliberately lie about it.

Both of these facts should not only disqualify him not only from consideration for public office but from any respect from people with even a semblance of decency.

This goes beyond politics.

Russia Has Rejected UN Draft On Georgia Pullout

The Russians have their own interpertation of what the farcical ceasefire agreement negotiated by French Presdient Sarkozy means, and they proved it today at the UN.

Russian UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin said in the UN Security Council that according to them, the French-brokered ceasefire allows Russian troops to stay in a buffer zone on the Georgian side of the South Ossetian border indefinitely and with no limitations, contrary to what Condi Rice had to say about the matter. He also refused to OK the languange in the document about Georgia's 'territorial integrity' said that Abkhazia and South Ossetia were not going to be returned to Georgia no matter what and that if the present UN draft was put to a vote, Russia would veto it.

What a surprise, eh? Apparently I appear to have a little more savvy in these matters then our Secretary of State or the US State Department!

The Russians aren't going anywhere. And reportedly, when Sarkozy called to complain to Russian president Dimitry Medvedev about the Russain non-withdrawal, Medvedev answered by telling Sarkozy that the pullout might be started by Friday,but that the Russians were only going to pull back to a buffer zone along the South Ossetian and Abkhazia border.

And the Russians are busily changing the facts on the ground to make sure it stays that way.

Aside from the wholesale blockade of the port of Pori, where the Russians hav eessentially stolen anything not nailed down, they are fortifying a buffer zone on the Georgian side of the South Ossetian border and Russian checkpoints now block the main east-west highway which links Tbilisi with the Black Sea ports.

The Russians have also closed Georgia's land border with both Russia and Azerbaijan..which places Georgia under what amounts to a blockade.

Meanwhile, our European allies are doing a particularly craven dance on the matter. While the US and NATO's Baltic members want membership for Georgia and theh Ukraine speeded up, NATO's western European members contented themselves with merely promising to establish a NATO-Georgia Council to strengthen ties — rather than full membership.

Meanwhile they sternly issued a statement promising "no business as usual with Russia"... which Russia's ambassador to NATO,Dimitri Rogozin quite accurately called "empty words."

With nothing behind them, that's exactly what they are.

It might just be time for the US and New Europe to reassess NATO.

Watcher's Council Nominations, 8/20/08

Once again,it's time for a tasty slice of some of the best of the blogosphere, the Watcher's Council.

Every week, the Watcher's Council members nominate two posts each, one of their own and one from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. As you know, our infamous leader,the Watcher of Weasels retired and is now our leader emeritus. Last week, the Council was hosted by Dave Schuler at The Glittering Eye. This week, the Council is being hosted by none other than Wolf Howling, and a full list of entries, including the non-Council ones can be found here.

As I mentioned, Terry Trippany will be filling the Watcher's spot and hosting the Council as soon as the next week or so, once the new site is up...I'll keep you posted.

Council News: Our friend Callimachus at Done With Mirrors has departed from the Watcher’s Council for the worst of all reasons...pressure from his superiors at his job in the dinosaur media, which has caused him to give up blogging entirely. I'll miss him a great deal, However, that also means there’s a spot available. If you have a blog of your own, you're welcome to apply for a position. The rules are here. Please leave your application in the comments to this post or in the post at Wolf Howling linked above.



So, let's see what we have here:

1.Joshua Pundit – Georgia's Fallout - The Good And The Bad - there are both negative and positive effects from Russia's brutal invasion of Georgia, and I attempt to run them down in my submission this week.

2. The Glittering Eye – Finding the Anti-U. S. Angle - Dave Schuler's post this week deals with the obsession in some quarters to turn every issue inside out in order to find some way to blame it on the United States. The cost of being Numero Uno, I suppose.

3. Soccer Dad – Reuters Rooters - This week Soccer Dad looks at the moral equivalence of people like Reporters Without Borders having a frothing fit over the accidental shooting of a Palestinian cameramen by the IDF in a combat zone as opposed to how they've reacted to the killing and robbing of reporters by the Russian military and their Ossetian 'militias' in Georgia.

4. Bookworm Room – McCainiacs thinking outside of the box -As a conservative living in the Leftist enclave of the Bay Area, Ms. Bookworm recounts the ideas she and other McCain supporters have come up with to try and raise the consciousness of others in the region. Like any other rebels and non-conformists challenging the status quo, it's an uphill battle.

5. The Razor – Vindication - Scott examines the success of the surge..the one that was never supposed to work, if you remember!

6. Wolf Howling – Life In A Socialist Nanny State: When Petty Bureaucrats Have Power Over Life And Death - Here's the situation...you're a lifesaving team in England who's perfectly seaworthy and serviceable boat has been taken out of service simply because the appropriate bureaucrat has not gotten around to recertifying it as fit for use yet....and there's a young girl drowning within plain view of you out in the sea. Do you use the boat , save a life and risk the heavy hand of officialdom or do you let her drown? A real story, and GW has it here.

7. Colossus of Rhodey – The Best Thing About the Free Market ... Hube thinks the best thing about free markets is the ability to choose where to spend your hard earned shekels. I agree.

8. Rhymes With Right – McCain Campaigns & Deals With Policy While Obama Bodysurfs - Greg compares McCain's interaction and engagement on public policy and his campaign with Barack Obama's. That's what happens when you truly do put the country first as opposed to your own ego...and also what happens when you're behind and playing catch up.

Plenty of people wrote John McCain off back when his campaign was dead in the water a six months or so ago, and he ended up winning the nomination. There were also a lot of people who saw Obama's campaign as a mere procession to the coronation in the White House, with John McCain having absolutely no chance to win, and whom are now surprised that McCain appears to be leading in the polls.

I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, but one of his most endearing qualities is his resilience, courage and ability to come from behind. Those qualities can take someone quite far in life...and in a presidency.

Pakistan: The Infighting Has Already Started

As I predicted, the Pakistan People's Party(PPP) and The Pakistan Muslim League(PML-N) are already fighting for power now that Musharraf has resigned and is on the way out.

The PPP, run by Benazhir Bhutto's widower Asif Zardari is essentially a gang of Leftist kleptocrats, while the PML-N, run by ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif is a conservative Islamist party. The two sides became partners in Pakistan's ruling coalition out of necessity because neither had enough of a majority in parliament to rule outright, and one of the only things they agreed on was getting rid of Pervez Musharraf. Now that Musharraf is gone, the animosity between the two sides is out in the open again.

The two immediate issues the two sides are contesting have to do with reinstating judges Musharraf removed from the bench and who assumes Musharraf's position as president.

The judges are a fairly sticky issue.

Back in March, when the PPP and the PML-n formed their coalition government, the two parties both promised to restore the 60 judges, including chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry within one month, and it was a major talking point during the parliamentary campaign.

Nawaz Sharif, and his Pakistan Muslim League-N, wanted them all restored immediately and Sharif threatened to leave the coalition if they weren't all restored within 24 hours..

The PPP, which has a slight majority ( although not enough to govern by itself)had a more 'nuanced' position on the matter. They favored a constitutional mechanism which would allow them to pick and choose which judges were reinstated and which were removed. Part of that has to do with the PPP's leader, Asif Zardari, because Chaudhry opposed the legislation Musharraf forced through at our State Department's insistence granting Zardari and his wife Benazhir Bhutto amnesty on pending corruption charges and paved the way for their return to Pakistan. The last thing Zardari wants is Chaudhry back on the bench...he might just try to undo the amnesty.

Actually, both Zardari and Sharif are suspected of stealing millions, while they were in office.

Another little problem is the fact that the job of chief justice is now held by Abdul Hamid Dogar, a political ally of Zardari who comes as from Sindh Province, which is the political base of Zardari and the PPP.

Who fills the office of president is another point of contention. The president is elected by the parliament, not by popular vote and according to what passes for Pakistan's constitution, it has to be done within thirty days. The current prime minister is the PPP's Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, and he's in office because the PPP and the PML-N agreed on him assuming the position as part of the deal that created the ruling coalition government. The presidency will be a different matter.Both Zardari and Sharif want the job filled by themselves or someone from their party they can control, and Zardari has even talked about putting a woman in the presidency, either his sister Faryal Talpur or the PPP speaker of the Lower Assembly Fehmida Mirza.

As you can imagine, the idea of a woman president doesn't sit well with the Islamist PML-N, aside from the fact that Sharif wants the job.

Now that Musharraf is gone, Zardari and Sharif can be expected to slug it out over the spoils...and the political positions and ambitions of the two couldn't be more opposed.

Saudis Not Liable For 9/11 Attacks

I love the smell of American jurisprudence in the morning....

A Federal Appeals court has ruled that 'our Eternal Friends' Saudi Arabia and four of its princes cannot be held liable in the Sept. 11 attacks - even if they were aware that donations to Muslim groups would be funneled to al Qaeda.

This bit of wisdom came out of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. They ruled that the Kingdom was protected by sovereign immunity and the plaintiffs would need to prove that the princes engaged in intentional actions aimed at U.S. residents. Apparently the court felt that funding a bunch of wahabist mosques and madrassahs and a money trail to people like al-Haramain wasn't enough:

Justin Timothy Green, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said he was disappointed with the ruling and the plaintiffs were considering an appeal because the decision would make it harder to collect from others.

"The bottom line is it's a difficult proof level to say someone gave money intending it to be used in a terrorist attack in the United States as opposed to merely giving it to anti-American groups and foreseeing it," he said.

"Ultimately, al Qaeda couldn't have done the attacks if they didn't have the resources to train and equip the 19 terrorists" responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks, Green said. {...}

Lawsuits seeking billions of dollars in damages were filed by representatives, survivors and relatives of the victims against foreign governments, charities, financial institutions and individuals believed to have provided support to al Qaeda.

The plaintiffs claimed the defendants gave money to charities in order to funnel it to terrorist organizations behind the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

In its ruling, the judges said it would have to dismiss the case against the princes even if it were proven that they were aware of bin Laden's public vows to harm the United States.

"Even if the four princes were reckless in monitoring how their donations were spent, or could and did foresee that recipients of their donations would attack targets in the United States, that would be insufficient," the three-judge panel said.

Of course, it was more than merely 'a public vow to harm the United States'...it was a declaration of war,and a clear statement to kill as many Americans as possible. And these people weren't merely 'reckless' - they knew all about it, approved of it and did nothing about al-Qaeda until they started striking in Saudi Arabia. Even then, the Saudis allowed al-Qaeda fighters to travel to Iraq to kill our warriors there for years after 9/11 without any problems, as long as they observed a de facto truce with the Kingdom.

The legal sophistry of sovereign immunity actually fits here. Normally, a nation acting towards the US the way the Saudis did would be cause for a declaration of war..but then, that would have involved taking up arms against some old business partners of the current occupant of the White House and his family, and upset a lot lot of other friends of the Saudis on both sides of the political aisles. And that just wouldn't do, would it?

The Kingdom and their princes will no doubt get off without anything more than some hefty legal bills to pay. But one day, when the history of these times is written, our children and our children's children will marvel at the way we allowed these vipers to feed on us.

Georgia: The Russians Aren't Leaving Yet

As a matter of fact, they appear to be digging in.

Gori is still under Russian control, and there have even been some rumors of Russian forces advancing from Gori towards Tbilsi.

I doubt the Russians and their Ossetian 'militias' will go that far, but they are obviously fortifying South Ossetia and have brought short range ballistic missile launchers into the enclave...so the part of the ceasefire that called for only a temporary Russian presence in the Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia is obviously something the Russians have no plans to abide by.

Underlining this was Russian president Medvedev thumping his chest and announcing that anyone who defies the Russians will be crushed.

I think whatever Russian pullout there is will be slow, protracted and designed to secure their stranglehold on Georgian territory.

Musharraf Resigns

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf finally pulled the trigger in a televised speech to the nation this morning,August 18.

“I might have made some mistakes, but the people of Pakistan will forgive me,” said the departing Pakistan president,portraying his resignation as a selfless attempt to spare Pakistan a bitter impeachment fight that would create further instability.

The main event came after a 45-minute defense of his leadership, ranging from counterterrorism to the construction of highways, dams and canals. There was even a bit extolling the increase in Pakistani cellphones during his rule. Without going into details, Musharraf simply declared that "not a single charge in the impeachment can stand against me....No charge can be proved against me because I never did anything for myself, it was all for Pakistan."

What all this means, of course, is that a deal was cut between Musharraf and the ruling coalition for him to go quietly, as I predicted.

Mohammed Mian Soomro, chairman of the Senate and a Musharraf loyalist, replaces him temporarily until a parliamentary vote to choose a new president, which is supposed to take place within 30 days.

According to the Pakistani paper Dawn, the negotiations included a granting of immunity for Musharraf, courtesy of the army, which was officially neutral but was unwilling to have its old commander Musharraf impeached and dragged through a show trial. That immunity was supposed to be announced after his resignation and departure from Pakistan.

Speaking of which, Musharraf will probably end up in Saudi Arabia or in the Emirates. The US State Department, after helping to create this sordid mess seems to realize that opening its doors to Musharraf might not be such a good idea, especially if the Islamists take over as they did in Iran. No less a personage than Condi Rice declared in a FOX news interview that ‘US asylum for Musharraf is not on the table’.

So.....what's next?

Obviously, the election of the next Pakistani president is next on the table now that Musharraf has been dealt with. The president is elected by the parliament, and it will obviously involve a deal between the kingpins of the two parties that make up the ruling coalition, Asif Ali Zardari, Benazhir Bhutto's widower and head of the Pakistan People's Party(PPP) and former Prime minister Nawaz Sharif, head of the Pakistan Muslim League(PML-N).

There's no love lost between the two. The PPP is largely a left leaning group of kleptocrats while the PML is a more conservative, Islamist party. Musharraf was one of the few things they agreed on, and now that he's out of the picture, I'd expect some serious infighting.

If someone put a gun to my head and I had to bet on the matter, I'd probably say that Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, the current Prime Minister would end up assuming the presidency while Nawaz Sharif takes over as Prime Minister...although this is Pakistan and absolutely anything can happen. Given the dysfunctional nature of the country, even another army coup isn't out of the question, and from a US standpoint it might almost be preferable compared to dealing with the PPP or the PML-N.

One of my main concerns is who's watching over Pakistan's nukes. Musharraf was the former guarantor of the security of Pakistan' s nuclear arsenal for the West. Now that he's on his way out, I'd be interested to know who's taking over that particular chore.
Stay tuned....

Musharraf Set To Address Pakistan Tommorow

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is scheduled to make a major speech tomorrow.

This could either be be his resignation or his announcement that he will fight the impeachment.
If it's the former, a deal has been cut and we'll see what develops.

I smell another Iran in the making..only this time, they already have nukes.

Stay tuned....

A Confrontation At Saddleback

Prospective nominees John McCain and Barack Obama had an unusual meeting at Saddleback Church, a large Evangelical Church run by Pastor Rick Warren.

What Warren arranged was not a debate, but two interviews, in which he asked each candidate identical question seperately in front of the congregation while the other was sequestered in a soundproof area offstage.

Needless to say, this 'warmup' to the campaign was carried live on FOX, CNN and CSPAN as well as other outlets and became a national event. The results were outstanding, and pointed out major differences between the two candidates, not just in political positions but in actual style and demeanor.

My pal Laer over at Cheatseeking Missiles was in the audience, and his excellent firsthand eyewitness account is here and worth the read for a blow-by-blow account of what went on.

Having seen a tape of the proceedings, here are my own impressions:

Compared to Obama's rambling, imprecise answers, McCain's were crystal clear, filled with substance and delivered with no equivocating whatsoever...to the point where the Obama campaign actually accused him of getting all the questions before hand, a charge they later withdrew when they realized how stupid they sounded.

In fact, McCain came across as so direct and so in touch with his core beliefs that the contrast with Obama was almost scary.

If this had been a prize fight, they would have stopped the bout about 15 minutes into McCain's segment.

I can't help but think that this did some serious damage to Obama, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if his handlers were busily figuring out ways to limit, rigidly control or outright eliminate any future debates.

He's simply not in McCain's class.

Georgia's Fallout - The Good And The Bad

"It's not a ceasefire until we say so, Condi, no matter what we signed or agreed to."

That's essentially what Putin and his hand puppet Medvedev are saying, loud and clear.

Not only have the Russians and their Ossetian and Abkhazian 'militias' not pulled out of Georgia, they've advanced further into the country and have essentially cut it in half. They've refused to remove their forces and instead are digging in and fortifying their positions in spite of the signed deal Condi was waving around.

They've also continued to pour troops in Ossetia and Abkhazia and continue to occupy Gori and the Georgian Black Sea port of Pori. And while they're there, they've been totally destroying Georgia's infrastructure, wrecking roads, power stations, civilian dwellings and government buildings as well as anything even remotely connected with Georgia's ability to defend itself. There has been widespread looting and theft,even of reporters attempting to cover the carnage. Human Rights Watch has reported widespread ethnic cleansing of Georgians living in or near Ossetia and Abkhazia, and there are numerous reports of rapes and shootings of civilians. The Russians have even kidnapped Georgian citizens, forcibly taken them to the Russian zone of occupation and put them to forced labor .

What they're after of course, is to leave Georgia destitute, powerless and unable to defend itself, ideally with Saakashvili out and a Russian stooge in charge. Russia's goal is to send a message to the old parts of its empire that the Bear is back and they are its vassals...and to wall off the last link between Europe and the energy producing areas in Central Asia not under Russian control.

Along with this obscene aggression, the Russians have done a typical job of attempting to come up with some myths to justify what they're doing, like 'Ossetian genocide', and 'Russia's humanitarian peacekeeping mission. I've already explained why most of this is sheer horse manure, and the Washington Post also does a pretty fair job debunking most of this mythmaking coming from Moscow. However, expect the Russians to continue their propaganda efforts with inflated casualty reports of 'Ossetian civilians' and films of Russians or Ossetians using some of the Georgian uniforms and military equipment the Russians captured as 'Georgian soldiers' performing 'atrocities.'

Hitler used exactly the same kind of tactics in Czechoslovakia and Poland, and they will no doubt be effective here as well with the more gullible. The Left in Europe and America still, after all these years has a soft spot for Russia that has increased as Putin has reverted back to his KGB roots and become more Soviet-like and anti-American.

The response of America and the West to the rape of Georgia has been incredibly feeble so far. The Western European part of NATO, particularly Germany have been incredibly craven. The Europeans are the ones chiefly to blame for this defeat - and I won't characterize it any other way - by refusing to allow Georgia and the Ukraine to enter NATO out of fewar of Russia , as the US wanted. And aside from some tough rhetoric, a ride home for 2,000 Georgian troops stationed in Iraq and some humanitarian aid, little has been done by the US except to negotiate a ceasefire agreement...which the Russians obviously intend to interpret in their own way and in their own good sweet time. They may very well get what they're ultimately after...a Georgian puppet state and de facto control of the pipeline routes into Europe.

However, there are also some signs the Russians may have overplayed their hand.

The nations of what Donald Rumsfeld presciently called 'New Europe' reacted to the Russian invasion, not with fear as might have been expected but with resolution. The leaders of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and the Ukraine were quick to make common cause with President Saakashvili of Georgia, traveling to the embattled capitol of Tbilsi to stand with him and condemn the Russian aggression. This is historic..through the centuries, these countries have never before united against Russia in this way, which is why they became part of Russia's empire. Look for them to put together a formula for their common defense and integrate their forces.

Moreover, they've realized that the Old Europe members of NATO like France and Germany cannot be depended on for any kind of concrete support against the Russians..so they've turned to the US. The Poles quickly signed an agreement with the US that had been hanging fire for 18 months to put a US defense missile shield there and also signed on to massive US aid for its armed forces, while the Ukraine has offered to link up its missile warning system with Europe and has limited the Russian navy's use of the Black Sea port of Sevastapool The Ukrainians and Poles know full well they could be next on the chopping block, and Russia's crude violation of Georgia has reminded them of their history in a way nothing else could have.

Another bit of positive fallout from the Russian invasion has been the discrediting of Condaleeza Rice, arguably the worst Secretary of State in US history.

President Bush went to Bei-jing for the Olympics having been assured by Rice and her minions in the US State Department that there was no chance of the Russians making a power play in the Caucasus.And even after the Russians went into Ossetia while he was still in China, Rice assured him that she had 'talked to Putin' and that the Russians would never invade Georgia.So President Bush didn't rush home at the beginning of the crisis, relying on Rice and the State Department's assessment that it was something fairly minor and containable that could be worked out with the Russians.

So when the fit hit the shan and Bush realized that the Russians were in fact running rampant in Georgia, he reportedly got fairly irritated, not only with Putin but with Condi Rice.

Rice made her bones in the State Department as a Russia expert, yet the Bush Administration was caught completely by surprise when Russia invaded. Her entire modus operandi with the Russians has always been to engage with them as 'allies' in the belief that Russia's imperialist nature had changed and that Putin was trustworthy, even when every sign showed that Russia was reverting to its autocratic past. Like her dealings with Lebanon, Kosovo,Syria, the Arab-Israeli conflict and North Korea, this latest fiasco simply underlines exactly how ineffectual and agenda driven she really is.

The beneficial part of this is that more sensible voices like Dick Cheney and ex-US Ambassador John Bolton have been vindicated...and that might just change a few things in the Bush Administration's waning days, especially where subjects like dealing with Iran's nuclear weapons program are concerned.

Another positive development, and perhaps the most significant is that many Americans awoke from their stupor and realized that it's still a very dangerous world out there.

Comparing John McCain's quick and forceful response to the crisis compared with Barack Obama's waffling, a lot of Americans were reminded of the need to have someone experienced, tough and forceful in the White House when the crunch comes.

Howard Dean Calls The GOP 'The White Party'

Ah yes, another Howard Dean moment.The funny part is, Deanie really, really believes this horse puckey.

I guess somebody forgot to tell this jackass who the party of the slaveowners and the Klan was.And which party it was that doomed a large part of America's Blacks to a cycle of dependence, poverty and hopelessness through its misbegotten policies.

Hill N' Bill's Convention...

Barack Obama once again proved himself conspicuously lacking in the ol' testosterone department by almost totally caving in to the Clinton's demands for the Donkey extravaganza in Denver.

Not only will Mr. Bill get a prime time speech slot on Wednesday, but Lady Macbeth gets to have her name put into nomination on the floor,with as many seconding speeches as she wants, and to be included in the roll call vote on the first ballot. Plus, she gets a slot of her own to speak on Tuesday, introduced by none other than daughter Chelsea plus a nice video, made by a team of her choice to be shown at the convention on prime time extolling her many virtues!

And Hillary gets a platform plank that uses "sexism" and "glass ceiling" language that almost as much as says she'd be the nominee if it wasn't for that.

Essentially, the Clintons are taking up two out of the four nights of the convention.It's almost as if they had won the nomination instead of Obama and his bitter half.

Now, I always figured Obama as a fairly craven individual, but even I'm surprised at his lack of spine.

Why's he doing it? Because he has to.

Barack Obama's ostensible reason for allowing this travesty is because he wants to promote 'party unity.'

Horse manure.

Any fleeting ideas that he's being magnanimous isn't going to get him a single vote he couldn't have gotten in November anyway. And any PUMA's and Hillary supporters who refuse to accept him as the legitimate winner aren't going to suddenly embrace Barack Obama just because he's giving Hillary Clinton a spotlight at the convention and catering to her demands.

The real reason is a pretty simple one, I think.

Obama barely won the primaries, and instead of finishing in a triumphant blaze of glory, he limped across the finsh line, losing in every one of the big states the Donkeys are going to need if they're going to beat McCain in November. In fact, now that Michigan and Florida's delegates are being counted, not only did Hillary win the popular vote, but only about one hundred delegate votes, all superdelegates seperate Hillary and Obama.

Obama's poll numbers have pretty much flatlined, and in a year when the Democrat nominee was supposed to win in a walk he's in a dead heat with John McCain.

This isn' t lost on the Clintons either, or on Obama. The Clintons have said all along that Obama can't win, and I have no doubt that the phonecalls are being made to the superdelegates saying exactly that.

I doubt that the supers will bend over for the Clintons and take the nomination away from Obama - doing that would ensure a mass defection of the Black vote the party increasingly depends on, not to mention the Angry Left - but it may very well be all about planting the seeds for a Hillary campaign in 2012..."see, I told you he couldn't win.."

As for Obama, we wonders, we wonders. Why did he consent to all this? Do the Clintons have something on him, or is he merely hoping that a properly stage managed 'reconciliation' will deliver those Democrat votes that have been eluding him so far? Is he hoping for a major presence on the campaign trail by the Clintons?

If it's the latter, Obama had best consider that it's in the Clinton's interest for him to tank, especially since McCain will undoubtedly be a one term president. And even if that wasn't true, Hillary may not be able to deliver those votes to Obama even if they wanted to.

Either way, we found out something important.

We just learned exactly how President Obama would fare negotiating with the likes of Putin and Ahmadinejad.

He'd be lucky to come home with his underwear.

Watcher's Council Results, 08/15/08

The Council has spoken! A complete rundown of the voting tallies is here.


And now(drum roll...) the winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are :

Among the Council members, the winner was Wolf Howling for “Obama, Criminalizing Politics & Thinking The Unthinkable" a great piece on the proposed Bolshevik style trials planned by the Angry Left for the president and other Bush Administration figures after they leave office.

In second place we had a tie between: This weeks host, The Glittering Eye for “Civis Americanus Sum”an excellent piece that dealt with the American perception of world order and international law as opposed to the reality of realpolitik, as evidenced by the Russian invasion of Georgia.

And: Soccer Dad“Not up to the standards of the national enquirer *UPDATED*”, a fine exposition on the way the dinosaur media handled the Edwards scandal.

Also getting votes was Joshuapundit“Fear And Loathing: The Psychosexual Element In Islam” from you know who.

In the Non-Council category, the winner was Slate“The Columbia Journalism Review’s Division Over Dissent”.

In second place, there was a four way tie between National Review Online“An Unplanned Education”, Pundita“To any and all U.S. forces in Georgia: STAND DOWN”, Right Wing Nut House“Using Ridicule As a Weapon Could Backfire on McCain” and Roger’s Rules“The crisis in Georgia, 9/11, and the lessons of gratitude”.

A shout out to Dave at The Glittering Eye for a superb job in hosting the Council this week. As always, congratulations not only to the winners, but to the participants.

Musharraf Expected To Resign In A Matter Of Days

The time grows nigh...