So much for that progressive foreign policy you were expecting in an Obama Administration. Obama strikes a pose on the Russia-Georgia conflict:

I’m proud to join my friend, Senator Joe Biden, in calling for an additional $1 billion in reconstruction assistance for the people of Georgia."

Any money for South Ossetia in there? Or how about Joe Biden saying "Russia’s actions in Georgia will have consequences?” You on board with that Sen. Obama? Or his, via Greenwald and Billmon, vigorous lobbying for expanding NATO to Georgia? BTW, here is a part of an Obama speech Matt Yglesias admired:

I am running for President because I am sick and tired of Democrats thinking that the only way to look tough on national security is by talking, and acting, and voting like George Bush Republicans.

Now Joe Biden and John McCain are sounding good to Obama on foreign policy. Progressive foreign policy? We hardly knew ya.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

For those of you thinking you will be awash in free and great food at parties and other events at the Democratic National Convention, think again. The New York Times reports that due to new ethics laws, most places will only be able to serve small plates of finger food -- as a result, many venues are removing the chairs and forks will not be provided.

[T]his year, members of Congress attending the Democratic convention in Denver next week and the Republican gathering in St. Paul in September are facing a more down-market prospect: bare-bones receptions where food eaten with forks has given way to finger food, where chairs have been removed and where meatballs may be served but not something heartier, like a hamburger.

The law is the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007. It prevents lobbyists from providing meals, music and other gifts to Congressional members or their staff. [More...]

TalkLeft called attention to Clarence Elkins's wrongful conviction in 2005, while he was still serving time for a rape and murder he didn't commit. Elkins was able to obtain cigarette butts from the man he believed to be the real killer, Earl Mann, after Mann joined Elkins in prison while serving a sentence for a different crime. DNA testing made Mann a strong suspect in the murder.

Since then, Elkins obtained his freedom as well as a million dollar award for the seven years he served for his wrongful conviction. Yesterday, Mann entered a guilty plea to the rape and murder in exchange for the state's agreement not to pursue a death sentence. As for Elkins:

"I'm just glad that I can call it over," Elkins said after the plea hearing.

Elkins was lucky that DNA evidence from the crime scene had been preserved, and that he was able to obtain Mann's DNA. Less fortunate is Alphonso James, who may be innocent but can't rely on DNA testing to prove it. [more ...]

Via CNN, Al Gore has accepted a speaking role for Thursday night at the Democratic Convention, the same night Sen. Barack Obama will make his acceptance speech.

Unlike the hysterics we have seen from John McCain, Joe Biden, Wes Clark, Richard Holbrooke and the Beltway foreign policy Establishment, Ed Kilgore points us to Sam Nunn making some sense:

[C]learly the United States need to pause, look and listen before we rush into making Georgia and Ukraine part of NATO. If we’re going to do that, we have to understand that this is a military commitment. And we have to back it up militarily. Right now, we’re not doing well in Afghanistan. Our NATO allies seem to be reluctant to put in more forces. NATO’s got a lot of credibility at stake in Afghanistan. And the defense spending by most of our European allies is way down.

And if you look at the map, you can see pretty quickly that defending Georgia will require enormous expenditures unless we’re going to go back to a Berlin sort of situation, where we threaten to use nuclear weapons in response to conventional progression by the Soviet Union... A wounded bear is going to defend itself. I think Russia’s made a profound mistake, and they’ve got to correct it. [But] we have a real reason to avoid compounding the problem.

h/t andgarden

John McCain was ridiculed by some (I think it is a ridiculous statement myself) when he said about the Russia-Georgia conflict:

My friends, we have reached a crisis, the first probably serious crisis internationally since the end of the Cold War.

(Emphasis supplied.) Upon his return from Georgia, the likely Democratic Vice Presidential nominee, Joe Biden said:

I left the country convinced that Russia's invasion of Georgia may be the one of the most significant event to occur in Europe since the end of communism[.]

(Emphasis supplied.) That sounds pretty ridiculous to me too. And in a Mouse That Roared moment, Biden came back wanting to hand Georgia a billion dollars for its attempt to take South Ossetia back by force:

When Congress reconvenes, I intend to work with the administration to seek Congressional approval for $1 billion in emergency assistance for Georgia . . .

Just brilliant. So the Obama/Biden ticket will be like McCain on this. Just brilliant.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

CBS4 Denver reports Sly's Salon in Denver is providing free haircuts to the homeless in advance of the Democratic Convention. The effort was organized by Denver Human Services.

It seems to be a first -- don't move the homeless, clean them up. That was the work of one salon and the recipients didn't even seem to care if the Democrats were coming to town. Sly's Salon at 17th and Grant was offering free haircuts to the homeless Monday. "To give them haircuts and make them all spiffed up for the Democratic National Convention, because they are part of our community as well," said Ghandia Gohnson, co-owner of Sly's Salon.

One of the recipients said she doesn't care about the convention, she just wants to look good. [More...]

(larger version here.)

The LA Times asks whether Hillary Clinton gave Bill Richardson a shrug or a hug Monday while campaigning for Barack Obama in New Mexico.

Here's the video, you decide.

For the seocnd time in three months, a case was dropped in LA due to false tesimony by a police officer. The latest, dismissed yesterday, involved a detective. Saul Edy, the defendnat, spent three years in jail.

Det. David Friedrich, with Los Angeles Police Department radio recordings that contradicted Friedrich's account of a stakeout.

The proseuctor's explanation:

I believe this officer did the best he could, but unfortunately mistakes were made and we lacked confidence in the persuasiveness of our case," Yglecias said. "We still have a belief in Eady's guilt, which made for an agonizing decision."

The defense lawyer's explanation: [More...]

The New York Times reports Obama's campaign says there will be no Veep announcement Tuesday. The Times thinks it's down to Kaine, Bayh and Biden.

The spin for those who don't like the Veep pick will be that Veep picks don't really matter.

“Vice-presidential candidates can make a marginal difference,” said Matt Bennett, the co-director of Third Way, a Democratic advocacy group, “but they rarely matter in terms of winning a state or region — as Mike Dukakis and John Kerry found out. And a weak candidate doesn’t really drag the ticket into the drink — as George H. W. Bush found out.”

Tell that to George McGovern -- Thomas Eagleton, anyone?

Amazing tiebreaker in women's uneven bar gymastics tonight. Nastia Liukin (U.S.)got the silver, He Kexin (China) got the gold. The math that gave He the gold medal is explained here.

The announcers all thought Nastia outperformed He. To my untrained eye, He's mistakes did seem bigger than Nastia's. But, the judges did follow their formula for breaking the tie. By 1/100th of a point, He came out ahead.

So to Nastia, you got the silver, but to many of us, you are the gold.

This is another open thread.

No Olympics for me tonight, I'm watching Weeds, which has been excellent this season.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome, just keep it civil and free of personal attacks.