Lone Conservative

"The government is going to help you in the best way possible, by doing nothing for you, by getting out of your way. Well, I exaggerate, but you understand. Of course we will provide you with infrastructure and help by getting rid of corruption, but you have all succeeded by your own initiative and enterprise, so you should congratulate yourselves”

What a refreshing and authentic expression of true conservatism from the President! Not our president, of course, but the President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvilli. Yes, the Columbia Law School grad has put down corruption and lifted up democratic and free market ideals. The people have increasingly cast away dependency on the state and replaced it with individual ‘initiative and enterprise.’ True conservatism and real democracy in a place once oppressed by soviet socialism.

That such a real conservative is the president and that such a true democracy and free market economy is in place anywhere is enviable. That is it in place on the boarder of Russia is a big problem for the newly emerging old Russia.

The answer from a Russian perspective is ‘regime change.’ They have openly announced their intention and backed it up with devastating military intervention directed intentionally at the civilian population and infrastructure. (If the U S so transparently targeted civilians the world outrage would be deafening - in this case, the silence is deafening.) Russia has every intention of keeping its military engaged within the boarders of Georgia, no matter what cease-fire arrangement is brokered, and continually chipping away at Saakashvilli’s leadership. So far, the people of Georgia have maintained their solidarity.

Meanwhile, back in the USA....

Obama was slow to speak to the issue and clueless when he did.

McCain was quicker and more forceful.

Rice is flitting around the world.

Bush was at the Olympics but at least had ‘in-stadium’ discussions with Putin.

The U S Military is deployed most everywhere involved in our own regime change experiment.

And so the refreshingly true conservative President of the already democratic, already free-market, already ‘an example to the region’ Georgia goes it nearly alone - except for the West’s other conservative, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Update: now that the country is destroyed and the Russians have voluntarily (momentarily) stopped their offensive which went completely unchecked and now that Sarkozy has brokered a cease-fire, Condi Rice arrives in Tbilisi to save the day! And obligate millions and millions of U S dollars to rebuild what we should have never allowed to be destroyed. How many countries are we now 'rebuilding?' Meanwhile, our bridges fall down....is it any wonder why the approval ratings for both the congress and the president are at historic lows?