Friday, August 08, 2008
Summer Games
Well, what would August be without the Olympics -- and war breaking out between former Soviet states!
As much as I'm rooting for Georgia, Russia should be seen as the favorite to get the "the gold."
With so many to choose from, what will ultimately be seen as the Bush administration's worst foreign policy decision? Iraq is obvious. Some might point to China. But an argument could also be made that standing by as Vladimir Putin consolidated power and reasserted nationalistic aggressiveness may have ripple effects for years to come. And this was the man who Bush vouched for personally, getting a "sense of his soul" by looking into his eye.
The difference between that sort of narcissistic baby boomerism and Reagan's "trust but verify" is stunning -- and tragic -- to behold. And, it's not as if Bush's adopting Putin as his BFF has actually gotten the United States anything of much value on the world stage. On the contrary, Russia has been more than happy to side with China on serious diplomatic ventures.
And, yes, I understand perfectly well that Vladimir Putin is no longer the president of Russia.
So what?
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As much as I'm rooting for Georgia, Russia should be seen as the favorite to get the "the gold."
With so many to choose from, what will ultimately be seen as the Bush administration's worst foreign policy decision? Iraq is obvious. Some might point to China. But an argument could also be made that standing by as Vladimir Putin consolidated power and reasserted nationalistic aggressiveness may have ripple effects for years to come. And this was the man who Bush vouched for personally, getting a "sense of his soul" by looking into his eye.
The difference between that sort of narcissistic baby boomerism and Reagan's "trust but verify" is stunning -- and tragic -- to behold. And, it's not as if Bush's adopting Putin as his BFF has actually gotten the United States anything of much value on the world stage. On the contrary, Russia has been more than happy to side with China on serious diplomatic ventures.
And, yes, I understand perfectly well that Vladimir Putin is no longer the president of Russia.
So what?
