It's a little early for an October Surprise, but I really don't have a hard time suspecting that where there's smoke, there's fire. Vladimir Putin is now asserting that the Georgian assault on South Ossetia was fomented by political actors in the U.S. for sectarian advantage. He doesn't name names, because he doesn't need to. The "patriotic mainstream media" aren't going to touch this with someone else's bargepole. Between Randy Scheunemann's bought and paid lobbying, Rove's "holiday" in Yalta, Condoleeza's "diplomatic" efforts and Cindy McCain's high profile "humanitarian" visit to Georgia, where I'm sure someone's going to get a good stiff talking to, it's pretty fucking obvious that this little bit of political theatre is primarily for the benefit of an easily swayed domestic audience.
Cui bono?
Tony.