Wonkette

The New York Times published this fun Bill Clinton story today that’s kind of like Syriana, or Blood Diamond or various other movies. In 2005, Bill Clinton accompanied friend and Canadian “mining financier” Frank Giustra to Kazakhstan, on a little publicized “philanthropy” visit aboard a very private jet plane. BUT MAYBE THEY HAD, HMM, ULTERIOR MOTIVES? MORE »

After six years of kissing the ass of Kazakhstan’s autocrat president, the Bush Administration has finally decided to notice the dreadful lack of human rights in the “former” Soviet Central Asian country that just happens to sit atop some of the biggest oil and gas reserves in the world … and right between Russia and China. According to a new report from Condi’s State Department, the mean old guys in Kazakhstan took Borat’s website away! Total lack of precious freedoms! MORE »

Here’s a recipe for dark comedy: One goofy clip of Borat abusing the dork host of the Today Show + hundreds of confused and enraged lefty commenters at Huffington Post.

We know you don’t have time to read them all, so we make very nice sample for you, after the jump.

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The crafty Jew comedian Sasha Baron Cohen continues to derail the White House’s latest dirty dealings with the oil-rich dictatorship of Kazakhstan. Over at the Kazakh Embassy, they are losing their minds. This was not how Dictator Nursultan Nazarbayev wanted his Washington visit to be remembered.

Like Saudi Arabia after 9/11, Kazakhstan took the usual totalitarian-regime route and put a four-page advertisement in the NYT and IHT. We love these things and have often used such sovietesque PR to plan new lives abroad: Hmm, did you know Mumbalumbia has far-reaching leisure touristic possibility and historical culture of timeless contrast, not to mention world’s eighth largest coal mine? But most people are immune to the Kazakh Charm Offensive — because they’re too busy e-mailing the NYT’s funny article about Borat’s DC appearance yesterday, making that goofy story the Most E-Mailed of the Day.

Come with us on a magical tour of the Kazakh Steppe, after the jump.

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Sneaky Uzbeks (who have bones growing in the middle of their brains) apparently infiltrated the Kazakh Embassy in D.C. and purchased an insulting “advertisement” for Kazakhstan. So said Borat in this exciting video shot today. MORE »

Everybody’s favorite Kazakh media star just gave a press conference outside the Kazakhstan Embassy explaining the “mix up” about his new movie. MORE »

Delayed due to technical difficulties/epic hangover

• Terror detainee bill passes House, will “authorize the indefinite detention of non-citizens without access to courts - even if they are not charged with any crime.” [WP, NYT, LAT]

• Democrats could win 6 seats and take control of Senate, “if the stars continue to align.” [NYT]
• Jeb Bush talks smack about George Bush’s No Child Left Behind program, “not saying it’s bad, but needs to be better.” [NYT]
• Bush “chaperoned” dinner for passive-aggressive Presidents Pervez Musharraf and Hamid Karzai last night. [BBC, NYT, CNN]
• Kazakh president to be feted at White House state dinner Friday while accusations of rampant corruption, murder, and Borat obstructionism continue to hound him. [NYT, NYT]
• Full NIE dealing with Iraq will not be released. [CNN, W$J]
• Chelsea Clinton to host her dad’s 60th birthday party/fundraiser in New York. Guest list and activities humiliate the CakeLove cupcakes and six-pack you got. [WP]

Not really. But our favorite ’stan has vigorously denied our report that the Kazakhstan government has come crying like a little girl to the White House in hopes that Bush will order the assassination of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen — who plays the beloved Kazakh media star Borat. MORE »

As the Bush Administration’s bold remaking of the Middle East and Central Asia goes from strength to strength, it was destined that the White House would have to get involved in the battle between the fictional character Borat and his native land, Kazakhstan.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has reportedly never thrown a Jew down a well, will actually discuss the Borat Problem with Bush at the White House and Castle Bushenstein in Maine later this month. But will a horse-drawn Lada make it all the way to America? The answers, after the jump.

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• “Rolling Hurricane Revue” tour heads to Mississippi and Louisiana to mark today’s one year anniversary of Katrina. Blame game still on, reconstruction in MS faring better than LA. [WP, NYT]

• Tropical Storm Ernesto is weak, but FEMA Director David Paulison’s “No More Fuckups” doctrine has an army of personnel in Florida. [CNN]
• Kofi Annan wants in on the cool kids “disaster touring club,” heads to southern Lebanon. [BBC, NYT]
• Bill Clinton in Africa visiting AIDS patients, finds warm reception: “George Bush has actually delivered more resources, but Clinton is ten times more popular in Africa.” [NYT]
• President Nursultan “The Friendly Kleptocrat” Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan to visit White House in September. [WP]
• Indiana Republican congressman Mike Pence no longer the “perfect conservative” as he tries for compromise on immigration issue. [NYT]
• Fenty vs. Cropp televised debate yesterday — no steel cage, just a really small table. [WP]