[Illustration: Sanjai Bhana]
Some pundits believe that the crisis in Georgia could prove to be a serious liability for Sen. John McCain with voters during the homestretch of this presidential campaign. It shines a light on how the War in Iraq has failed us on various levels; how a McCain presidency would follow in the same disappointing diplomatic path of the current administration; and McCain's close ties to lobbyists would be hit with a double whammy in the form of his chief foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann, who not only was a big cheerleader for the war in Iraq but who was also also, until recently, a paid lobbyist for the government of Georgia.
Yes, I agree in theory; looks good on paper. But anyone that already agrees with McCain does not see this as a liability but further proof that we need to be out there "kicking butt." If these people were to think rationally and see how being bogged down for 5 years in a Third World country, in a fictitious war, has weakened us financially, militarily and politically, and thus our blustery pronouncements are really just empty threats, they wouldn't be McCain supporters, now, would they?
Meanwhile, I've been thinking...was the timing of the Georgia situation part of some Russian strategy to test the US? In other words, unhappy about their place in the post-Cold War era, did they wait to make a move when their biggest possible opponent would be noticeably hampered and at its lowest moral stature on the international stage? Hmm...
