Stories from different angles are starting to etch away at the patina that covers the McCain campaign's Randy Scheunemann.

Here's some of the postings from the left wing blogosphere.
(I don't necessarily agree with everything in the postings.)

http://blog.nationbuilder.org/...
John McCain Facing Felony Charges for Violating the Logan Act

http://thinkprogress.org/...
Did Scheunemann Engineer McCain’s 2005 Nobel Prize Nomination Of Georgian President For Financial Gain?

http://www.dailykos.com/...
What really happened in South Ossetia? Who did Karl Rove meet on his sweet vacation in Crimea?

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/...
Did Karl Rove Chat to Saakashvili about South Ossetia Too?

The U.S. response to Russia’s invasion of Georgia would be laughable if not so ominous for the future. I read statements of the President, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense. With the subsitution of a few nouns I saw how the past is coming back to bite. Indulge me:

"Russia {The U.S.} is putting its aspirations at risk by taking actions in Georgia {Iraq} that are inconsistent with the principles of those institutions," Bush said.

"Those institutions" refers to "international institutions" in which Russia desires to be a major player.

If you woke up one morning and your newsource said some good size US city was vaped in a nuclear fireball during the night, without warning & with no one taking credit, ....
Who would get blamed? What would, what could be done?

Mikhail Saakashvili is in the same position as Slobodan Milosevic.  The Kosovar and Ossetian conflicts are nearly identical, and Russia wants to put him on trial for war crimes... just like the West planned to do with Milosevic. Saakashvili has nothing to rely on but propaganda, press spin and the surprising restraint shown by Russia up to this point, along with the irrational support of a public that rallies around him when the country is at war.  The same thing happened in Yugoslavia... Serbs watched their country destroyed and rallied around the idiot who got them

One of the most enduring moments of the 9/11 Commission hearings came when Condoleezza Rice casually recalled the now infamous August 6, 2001 presidential daily brief (PDB).  "I believe," she said, "the title was, 'Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States.'"  Now almost exactly seven years later, Secretary of State Rice seems to have missed the warning signs once again.  Having sent mixed messages to Tbilisi in July and on vacation as Russian armor poured into the country, Condi Rice ignored the alarm, "Putin determined to strike in Georgia."

On July 10, Secy. of State Condoleezza Rice told Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili:

I want to again affirm that the United States remains committed to the territorial integrity of Georgia... It is extremely important that the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia be resolved on the basis of principles that respect that territorial integrity....

Georgia says South Ossetia is part of its territory. When Rice says we support "territorial integrity," she means Georgia’s right to call the shots in South Ossetia.

Yesterday Bush said Russia "must respect Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty."

"I am deeply concerned by reports that Russian troops have moved beyond the zone of conflict, attacked the Georgian town of Gori, and are threatening Georgia's capital of Tbilisi. There's evidence that Russian forces may soon begin bombing the civilian airport in the capital city," he said.

See a problem here?

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.

Instead senior State Department official, Matthew Bryza, who oversees the Caucasus region was sent, two days later than planned, to join a joint EU-US mediation effort to win a ceasefire.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who is leading the mediation mission for the EU, said Monday the United States was "in a sense part of the conflict," between Russia and Georgia.

Associated Press

I am not sure how much U.S. Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad was freelancing before the Security Council on Sunday and how much administration policy he was voicing:

http://palimpsest.net/

President Bush and Prime Minister Putin were sitting a few seats apart at the Olympic Games opening ceremony.  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov implied to Secretary of State Rice in a phone call that ending the fighting in Georgia was the responsibility of the US.

Below I have put together some maps and info from wikipedia and the University of Texas website to give background on the situation, as well as culled some news reports on the conflict.  This is a fairly disorderly diary, meant only as a sort of information bucket.  Please use the thread to add/correct information.  

In an interview with Mike Allen from Politico that was published today, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice drops several less-than-subtle hints that she might be a closet Obama supporter.  Is Rice trying to gain back her soul after eight years of working for the devil and having blood all over her hands?

This will be a short diary.  But this needs to get out there.  I am sure she will "clarify" her comments after getting waterboarded by Karl Rove and John McBush...

I watched No End in Sight again the other day. And the part that angered me the most this time through was the realization of how long Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Powell, and Armitage have been influencing policy. So I did a quick audit of some of the Bush Administration's top Cabinet members and officials. Most of this information was taken from Wikipedia and I checked most of the sources listed. I highlight the total number of years active, but the dates these people were active is also noteworthy.

I shall let the evidence speak for itself.

(Anyone else I should audit? Let me know.)

    Some will have a fit for my even saying "McKaine" instead of "Tim Kaine", but the ugly fact is that "irrational" things like wordplay, mockery, etc. often have a bigger impact than rational things. I can just smell McCain spurting "The change candidate? Then howcum Obama chose someone with my name? --or, HALF my name! Haw haw!", or, "...Kaine? I'm the REAL McCain! And I served in the military unlike that other guy who just sounds like me..."

    As for more ""substantial""" stuff:

A. Well, the military thing is substantial. Despite Webb having the staffer with the gun accident recently, etc., maybe Obama should try talking to him again after all. Or anyone who's served. (Except for Air Force vet Daschle; see this DKos remark about D's problems...)
    If you don't think having worn a uniform for our country is important, try October when Netanyahu (Olmert's replacement?) blows up Iran and people go into panic mode and look for traditional alpha males...including certified war heroes like McC.

    (more)

(I re-edited this in a hurry as I hold my stomach about to throw up, but read on, I think it is now coherent - despite my rage!)

It makes me sick to the stomach to read about the stupid press people at camp Obama reiterating how both McCain and Obama both love the troops, support the troops, and all that bullshit. This stupid press department did the same during the primaries, leaving me wondering exactly which candidate they were working for. While the primaries involved battling against fellow Democrats, and a delicate balancing act indeed that was, particularly when battling a woman, this is the general, and the Rethugs need us never, not once be their spokesperson for any of their virtues (if there are indeed any)
cnn's skewed coverage

This staying above the fray will just never work with Rethugs, and this is the perfect example of why this should never have been allowed to happen! I honestly don't know that the Obama candidacy can survive this onslaught!

I have no idea who came up with the brilliant idea of covering up for Condi, Gates, Bush and Co! I can just picture the Clintons and all Clintonistas now saying, "I told you so! He couldn't battle the Rethugs and this is an example! "

I think this is one of those articles that proves how truly partisan this Administration is.  Condi sent an message to the Embassies overseas stating they were not to assist Obama with his travel plans.  She stated this was not an "official" visit.  link  Sorry forgot the link.

Edit:  Thanks!  This is my first time in the big leagues.  You made my day.

Fresh from our friends at TPM Election Central

Condolleza Rice says she has made up mine who she is voting for, but won't say who it is.  Could she be for Obama?

Many of us are bilingual. As I mentioned before, My grandfather was fluent in 26 different languages. This was also a guy who had his ph.d. at 21, so he was pretty remarkable. He was a Hebrew professor for 40 years. I wish I could consult him on this question, but he has passed on. However, I have translated professionally (although not in Arabic or German-neither of which I know at all), also having passed stated administered test to prove fluency.