'The Legacy of a Modern Diplomat' Five years after Sergio Vieira de Mello was killed in a Baghdad bombing, his biographer and former Obama adviser, Samantha Power, chronicles 'a War on Aid Groups.'

As Secretary of State Rice declares that military power is "not the way to deal in the 21st century," the PBS program "Wide Angle" provides what is described as "a first-rate look" at the "Iraqi Exodus," and McClatchy reports on a 'chaotic pre-dawn raid' of Diyala's provincial government compound.

With 'The end of the Bush-Mush affair,' Gareth Porter recounts how "the Bush administration covered up the Musharraf regime's involvement in the activities of the A. Q. Khan nuclear technology export programme and its deals with al Qaeda's Pakistani tribal allies."

As an 'After Musharraf' report speculates that "given a dangerous vacuum, the U.S. could increase its activity in the border region, pursuing militants or bombing their hideouts," the Bush administration appears to soften its stance on granting Musharraf asylum in the U.S.

Harriet Miers adds Pakistan to her lobbying portfolio, as the country's two main parties deadlock on judges, revealing "a severe strain in the alliance."

As it's argued that "McCain's approach and tone on foreign policy has always been more emblematic of a TV pundit rather than a sober president," David Brooks, in 'making excuses' for McCain, is said to have the "ability to faithfully serve the interests of the Republican Party while maintaining a stance of ironic detachment and independence."

McCain takes a five-point lead over Obama in a Reuters/Zogby poll, and a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll finds that 'Obama's image suffers amid John McCain attacks,' and "that 35% of voters have questions about how patriotic Obama is."

With commentators continuing to falsely claim that McCain is reluctant to talk up his POW biography, former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack tells reporters that 'McCain puts oil first, not country,' and "Countdown" reveals that in McCain's 2002 memoir, he wrote: "I wanted to be president because it had become my ambition to be president."

As 'McCain's "Judeo-Christian values" reference puzzles,' a Harris poll finds that 'Gay voters support McCain less than they did Bush,' and a co-founder of Manhunt.net, a dating and sex site for gay men, was booted from the board after contributing $2,300 to the McCain campaign.

With Veepstakes hounds gorging on a morsel from Sen. Biden, conservatives are all atwitter over a widely-circulated commentary by CNN's Jack Cafferty comparing McCain to Bush, including one commentator at Human Events who likened Cafferty to Goebbels.

Murray Waas reports on a 'New Justice Department push to keep Bush aides from testifying,' the Senate Judiciary Committee pressures the White House for torture documents, a survey reveals the difficulty in gaining access to military court dockets and proceedings, and "On the Media" devotes an entire show to investigative reporting.

Dun Deal As Indian outsourcing gets a boost from debtors in the U.S. and the U.K., an ex IMF-economist sets off a firestorm with his "whopper" of a prediction, which was followed by a report that U.S. wholesale prices are rising at the fastest pace since 1981. Plus: 'Meet the 51 corporations wining and dining GOP-convention media.'

After the New York Times ripped "The Wrecking Crew" on Sunday and Monday, a defense was mounted, while Reason was asking: 'What's the Matter With Libertarians?'

It's showtime for Rachel Maddow, and as Kevin Drum leaves one (blog) post for another, the Times reports on how you can 'Broadcast your view for only $6.'

As the issue of 'John Edwards and Fake Morality' is addressed, it's said that Edwards "is not going to Denver," but the Charlotte Observer interviews Edwards' delegates who are going, and McSweeney's rolls out 'Edwards! The Musical.'

August 19

In his 'Anatomy of A(nother) Fiasco,' Billmon finds that "Even after the fiasco in Iraq, the bloody failure in Lebanon, the downward spiral in Afghanistan and, now, the futile posturing in Georgia, there's absolutely no evidence the U.S. foreign policy elite is inclined to moderate its ambition to re-organize the world along American lines."

Rude Awakening (Councils) The Iraqi government moves against some U.S.-backed Sunni fighters, 'Kurdish control of Kirkuk creates a powder keg in Iraq,' and USA Today reports that "Iraq is fast becoming one of the United States' top customers for military sales," in a region said to be 'experiencing the largest and fastest arms race in the world.'

As Peter Bergen asks of 'Al-Qaeda At 20... Dead or Alive?,' an 'Algeria bombing kills 43,' and CounterPunch publishes an interview with suspended Afghan parliamentarian, Malalai Joya, dubbed the country's "bravest woman," while an Independent reporter visits an Afghan jail where 'the majority of female prisoners are serving 20-year sentences for being forced to have sex.'

Although it's argued that 'Musharraf's exit will not end Pakistan's woe,' Juan Cole sees it as "Pakistan's first chance for a decent political future since 1977," and Tariq Ali, who has a new book on Pakistan and the U.S., writes of Musharraf: "We can only speculate whether he would have lasted nine years had it not been for 9/11 and the 'war on terror.'"

U.S. journalist Nicholas Schmidle, who was kicked out of Pakistan, returns to gauge Pakistani reaction to Musharraf's resignation, and goes 'Searching for Pakistan's future at Benazir Bhutto's house,' following "one of the first fall-outs of the resignation."

A "News Hour" segment includes speculation that Musharraf will end up in New Mexico, and as Sen. McCain's embrace of Musharraf is recalled, McCain's embrace of Rep. John Lewis is rebuffed, while his continued questioning of Sen. Obama's patriotism, as well as his campaign's railing against NBC, provide fodder for a "Special Comment."

Arianna Huffington sees 'a Three-Man Race: Obama vs The Two McCains,' Cindy McCain's half-sister surfaces, saying that she's "angry" about Cindy claiming to be an "only child," the McCains get McMansioned, and Rick Warren invokes the Secret Service to defend his "cone of silence." Plus: Warren now chatting up Georgian President Saakashvili?

'McCain hires a Hollywood agent in hunt for convention glamour,' and as anti-RNC graffiti starts appearing in the Twin Cities, Sen. Norm Coleman, whose lead over Al Franken is shrinking, according to one poll, tries to distance himself from the RNC by claiming that "If the convention wasn't in St. Paul, I wouldn't be at the convention."

As 'Lobbyist parties for lawmakers bend rules,' the Democratic Party's platform calls for 'More diversity in media,' but one newshound explains 'Why I won't be politically high In the Mile High City,' while another describes having survived Netroots Nation without a laptop, iPhone or Blackberry!

With George Clooney's purchase of the film rights for "The Challenge," Jonathan Mahler's book on Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, Variety reports on efforts by conservatives to portray Clooney as a 'secret Obama adviser.'

Although Bill Moyers' interview with Andrew Bacevich garnered little notice from mainstream commentators, it was a different story with bloggers and book buyers, and on the heels of her 'Why-haven't-you impeached-the-president tour,' it's revealed that House Speaker Pelosi is banking on T. Boone Pickens.

As Tom Engelhardt poses 'Six questions about the anthrax case, ' Merck faces another round of criticism,' this time over a 1999 Vioxx study that "was designed as a marketing tool, not a scientific investigation," according to a paper, with accompanying editorial, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Editor & Publisher interviews Rory Kennedy about her documentary on Helen Thomas, and Greg Mitchell points out that a review by Tom Shales "offers no evidence" to support his claim of Thomas's "stridency in criticizing Israel and defending its enemies," and Dan Froomkin asks Thomas what she 'would be asking if she could.'

As one reporter steps 'Outside the Beijing bubble,' the city's protest parks are said to be "strictly for the birds," with the Chinese government going 0 for 77 in approving permits, and a U.S. statue bars the NBA from contract discussions with an Iranian Olympics star.

Michael Phelps is racking up even more sponsors than gold medals, and with the host country's athletes 'Burdened by China's gold standard,' Psychology Today examines the 'Plight of the Little Emperors.'

August 18

Opting for a Nixonesque exit, President Musharraf gives up on "saving" Pakistan and resigns in a speech laying out what he has accomplished for the country, while the Independent offers a peek at what might serve as his 'luxury retirement pad.'

Response to the resignation announcement was "electric and instantaneous" according to a Los Angeles Times report, and lawyers were dancing in the streets.

After 'checkmate' in Georgia, the "message for America," writes Tony Karon, is that "Russia has stopped retreating," as David Remnick sizes up the new 'boundary issues,' and the Arab world highlights the hypocrisy of Bush condemning Russia.

Laying out "hard truths" about America's "empire of consumption" on "Bill Moyers Journal," Andrew Bacevich wins high praise from both left and right, and prompts an illuminating recollection from his own past.

With suicide bombings continuing, a report back from Iraq highlights concerns that Prime Minister Maliki has become "overconfident," and "dark clouds" are discerned on the election horizon, where a dispute over the fate of Kirkuk has remained a key impediment.

Although 'security contractors in Iraq remain outside the law,' the U.S. Department of Justice has sent "target letters" to Blackwater guards accused in the Nisour Square massacre, and Iraq too insists on the right to prosecute them.

Faced with continuing outbreaks of violence and friendly fire, Afghanistan celebrates its Independence Day at an undisclosed location in a capital surrounded by thousands of police.

The Bush administration proposes a "new domestic spying measure that would make it easier for state and local police to collect intelligence about Americans," and Walter Pincus notes that a new unit of the DIA will for the first time be authorized to carry out "strategic offensive counterintelligence operations" at home and abroad.

As a 'Gitmo psychologist pleads the fifth on torture,' protesters condemn participation in abusive interrogation at the annual meeting of the APA, where what's described as "a fight for the soul of the profession" is taking place. Plus: 'Even the kangaroos were offended.'

'The Candidate We Still Don't Know' Addressing the ubiquitous concerns about why Obama isn't winning by a landslide, Frank Rich notes that given the way the press has been grading on a curve, "that public doesn't know who on earth John McCain is."

As the candidates line up for question time at a megachurch, McCain pulls out the anecdotes, including one well-worn tale with a suspiciously literary ring, cites as an example of pure evil a newspaper story long since debunked, and dodges the definition of "rich."

Following the forum, a McCain spokesman attempts to fend off a "cone of silence" controversy with the notion that such questions somehow impugn his integrity as a former POW.

With the most recent Gallup poll indicating that 'McCain continues strong in the South, but nowhere else,' Facing South looks at the trend lines and finds that the only state in which McCain's lead is actually growing is South Carolina.

A new Pew survey on the political affiliations of cable news watchers finds that CNN's audience has become even more heavily Democratic, but the play it gave to 'Obama the Antichrist?' belies its liberal reputation, while even at "the coolest pit stop on television" John McCain remains the favored celebrity.

New furniture for the Oregon Legislature initially provides fuel for expense-minded attack ads in the state's Senate race, but then turns the spotlight on the prison labor that was used to construct it.

Under the headline 'Dr. Doom,' the New York Times profiles Nouriel Roubini, whose gloomy prognosis for the economy has recently gained greater currency and who, surveying the depths of the country's indebtedness, suspects that we are seeing "the beginning of the end of the American empire."

Salon runs a pair of columns busting "myths about cheap and unlimited oil" being bandied about on the right, and noting that as far as energy is concerned both candidates are fronting a "sacrifice-free election strategy," while Dollars & Sense offers a case study of how 'climate reality eludes the business press.'

Aug. 8-10

Despite U.S. assurances that a new missile deal with Poland was not meant as a provocation, it sparks an angry response, heightening tensions with Russia, as the 'Georgian president checks in with Glenn Beck, Katie Couric.'

In an essay for Foreign Policy in Focus and in a discussion on "Democracy Now!," Michael Klare argues that the Russian-Georgian conflict is largely an "energy war" over access to the region's vast oil and natural gas reserves, while Real News goes in depth with a series of reports on 'the geopolitics of Georgia.'

With McCain apparently discovering that "It's wrong for nations to invade other nations," and warning of a 'dramatically different relationship with Russia,' questions are raised about the propriety and the sense of his focus on Georgia.

In an article in Slate, a curious volunteer in the Georgia-Russia cyberwar -- which may have preceded the hot war by weeks -- sheds light on "why the recent cyberwar has been so hard to pin down and why no group in particular has claimed responsibility."

Despite rescue efforts by western diplomats and official denials, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf is expected to resign before Monday, and perhaps travel abroad, but Tariq Ali suggests keeping democratic expectations low, in view of the continuing importance of U.S. ties with the Pakistani army.

Although reports find the Taliban and Al Qaeda busy executing suspected U.S. informants in the tribal area along the Pakistan border, and the Taliban closing in on the doorstep of Kabul, the city's security is scheduled to be handed over to the Afghan army on August 28.

Tallying up the cost of private contractors in Iraq, the CBO projects $100 billion by the end of the year, but an IPS analysis points to signs that President Bush is "preparing to throw security contractors such as Blackwater under the political bus."

As the U.S. army solicits PR for reconciliation in Iraq, a suicide bomber strikes pilgrims near Baghdad, and six U.S. sailors working as prison guards face courts-martial for allegedly sealing detainees into a pepper spray filled cell and other abuse at Camp Bucca in Southern Iraq.

In a pair of articles adapted from his new book and posted at Tomdispatch, Andrew Bacevich reviews the collapse of overblown expectations about America's ability to reinvent war, and considers what lessons should be drawn from this failure. More on Bacevich on Friday's Bill Moyers Journal.

Amy Goodman critiques plans to 'cage dissent' some distance away from the Democratic convention, which include holding pens for mass arrests that protesters have termed 'Gitmo on the Platte.' And if that is not real enough, Amnesty International plans to offer convention-goers its own simulation.

As CNN reveals that its coverage of both conventions will be sponsored by Exxon-Mobil, and drilling advocates try for a total shut out of renewable energy, Media Matters attempts to counter growing support for offshore drilling with a fact sheet exposing 'myths and falsehoods about oil policies.' Plus: 'Touring Hanford.'

As the real estate recession deepens with no bottom in sight, the Labor Department reports that "the cost of living ... is rising at the fastest rate since the recession of the early 1990s, and EPI tackles the big picture in preview chapters from its report on 'The State of Working America.'

A GAO report concludes that two-thirds of U.S. corporations are paying no income tax with a little help from "transfer pricing," suggesting that high-end tax rate both Obama and McCain have pledged to lower, is largely mythical, while an analysis of new IRS data finds 'two tax systems, separate and unequal.'

Media Matters' Paul Waldman squares off with Jerome Corsi over his new anti-Obama book, which recycles "secret Muslim" charges, and various other dubious allegations that the New York Times hesitates to label outright lies.

SPLC notes that Corsi is scheduled to appear on a white supremacist radio show again this Sunday, Bag News Notes covers the book's 'swiftboating of a facial expression,' and a New York Times blog examines his conspiracy credentials.

Confronted over double standards on infidelity, Sean Hannity deploys a POW ordeal excuse for McCain (and ignores Giuliani), while the candidate floats back to the top of the news buoyed by negative advertising, but beset by renewed questions about ties to lobbyists.

With conservative groups attempting to refocus the election with hot button initiatives, the Colorado Independent takes a detailed look at how 'anonymous dough flows into Colorado initiative campaigns.'

The Fifth Circuit court rules that the consultation of the Bible by a jury does not invalidate a death sentence, another jury finds a positive-thinking pastor accused of going postal on a flight attendant not guilty, and 'a teacher's branding case opens a religious divide.'

August 11

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