Not A Bad Idea, Actually

Arianna Huffington suggests Obama turn up the heat on McCain...on national security. She makes a convincing case. National security is the only area where McCain currently and consistently outpolls Obama, yet his pronouncements on the subject have been nothing but one long string of gaffes and misstatements (including most recently plagiarizing from Wikipedia and accusing Putin of wanting to restore the Czarist empire). The only reason McCain has gotten a pass is the MSM's man-crush on him. Obama should call McCain on it. It's a Rovian strategy, hitting your opponent where he's strongest. Maybe it can work for good instead of evil this time.

UPDATE: MSM continues to carry McCain's water on the Russo-Georgian conflict, even as it becomes more and more apparent that he has no idea what he's talking about.

Great Moments in American Foreign Policy

Russia (headed by the thuggish dictator with the soul-transparent eyes) invades and beats up on a small neighboring country that happens to be a valuable US ally. Using all of his diplomatic skill, President Bush...uhm, gives Putin another big hug. Sigh. Is there anything else that can go wrong between now and January 20, 2009? Will Dubya get us into a war with China through some maladroit bungling in Beijing? Has Canada invaded yet?

UPDATE: As Georgia desperately tries to surrender, it becomes more and more apparent that the whole invasion was in reality Putin's clumsy warning against NATO expansion.

UPDATE 2: Never fear! Dubya is on the case!

Vladimir Putin to Run for Governor of Texas

Russian Leader Claims "Women's Issues" Are His Number One Concern.

Texas GOP Chairlady Tina Benkiser proclaims, "Vlad is our kind of capitalist! Plus, he has old-fashioned traditional family values."

Authoritarians of a Feather...

Eric's Lyceum has a typically thoughtful piece on Putin and the notion of Law vs. Order. In reading it, I noticed the similarities between Putin's Russia and Bush's America becoming painfully apparent: the fetishizing of authority, the Good Ole Boy Corporate corruption, the downgrading of independent media and the stiffling of dissent, the never-ending "war on terror" as an excuse to erode civil liberties. Of course, Putin is much further along (and is wildly popular in his country), putting me in mind of Lincoln's comment, "When it comes to this, I shall prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty - to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure and without the base alloy of hypocrisy."