A new cold war between the West and Russia is unlikely despite the battles raging in the Republic of Georgia this week, unless there are some major diplomatic or military gaffes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is among the last of a dying breed, the old-line Soviet communists who dreamed of world domination. His claim to power is rooted in nationalism, which is powerful in electoral politics and Olympics-style athletics. As popular as Putin is among the "Russkies," his appeal is likely to collapse if he tries to launch a series of military ventures. The Russian people care about their country up to a point but I just don't see them following Putin into war. There are a lot of Russians with powerful fiefdoms that would be disrupted by conflict, and these are the guys with Putin's ear. They'll tell him when it's time to stop.
The biggest question is what the United States and other western nations should do. We know the answer to what they will do. Nothing. Russia has veto power on the U.N. Security Council. The so-called non-aligned nations will vote against any measure condemning Russia in the U.N. General Assembly. The Euro-weenies will not have the will to remove Russia from the G-8 or any similar body of world leadership over fear that Putin will cut off their supply of natural gas.
What should be done? First of all, President Bush should admit that he misjudged Putin when they met early in his first term and he called him someone he could work with. We need to reconfigure our relationship with Russia from naivete to wariness. Bush could go a long way toward paving such a new path for his successor, be it Obama or McCain. We should push the various world bodies on anti-Russia resolutions for, if nothing else, to get countries to consider the problem and declare on which side they stand.
As friendly as the Georgian government has been to us, we cannot and I'm sure will not respond militarily. The U.S. embassy is passing out cash to those who've suffered losses. That's fine. We could embark on a wide program of humanitarian aid.
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Too bad this isn't college football. Georgia would be favored by at least three touchdowns.
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The politics of the 2008 Olympic Games left me cold, with the International Olympic Committee acquiescing to China's unkept promises in the months leading up to the games. More out of disinterest than thoughts of a boycott, I didn't think I'd watch much of the action.
However, a friend set me straight in that the competition and the athletes have nothing to do with all that side stuff. The diver preparing for his twisting and turning drop into a pool of water, the sprinter setting his feet in the blocks and the archer slowing down his breathing and heartbeat before firing his arrow have nothing to do with politics.
I'm glad I heard that. I'm still not watching a whole lot, but more than I thought I would.
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If Websters ever decides to place a dictionary illustration beside the word "gall," it should be an image of John Edwards. That the guy cheated on his wife is bad enough, but to do it while she was recovering from cancer makes him a scumbag.
But that's not the worst of it. That John Edwards chose to run for president, knowing his affair was bound to become public knowledge is stupefying.
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The narrative of last week was why isn't Obama pulling away from McCain in the presidential campaign polls? The question was legitimate. The narrative this week should be why isn't McCain taking advantage of his opportunity and edging even closer? He appears to be stalling at 2-3 points behind in the popular vote, and is not making any significant gains in the electoral college.
Despite the many problems to date with the Democratic candidate and his campaign, he is still well on track to becoming the next president.
