I just wanted to make a few short comments on a couple of items in the news - no, not the Olympics. It appears that most people don’t understand or appreciate the importance or complexities of Russia’s attacks on Georgia. I include the administration in this.

One of the problems, again, is putting amateurs in charge of our international affairs just because they share a totally discredited Neo-Con perspective. What else should they have expected?

Rice once again proves that she is in over her head. Despite all of the evidence to the contrary, these dullards actually consider themselves and their peers to be intelligent and able. They haven’t the intellect even to be slow learners. They will never learn.

It is no surprise that Bush, who shares their hubris would, in his own ineptitude, see them as credible. Now we have little Putin causing trouble again. Recall Bush saying after his first meeting with Putin, “I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul.” What wonderful insight he has.

If Bush had the interest of the country anywhere on his list of things to care about, he would announce that he and his entire gang were vacating their positions. Not terrorism, not Russia, not China, not oil prices, not food prices, not all of the corruption of our financial system, his utter stupidity represents America’s greatest danger.

The war in Georgia can disrupt the flow of oil. That is one of the least of the problems. Georgia is an ally of ours. Their president is American-educated. They want so badly to be our friend that they sent more troops to Iraq than any nation other than the U.S. and the U.K., though we have now flown them home for this crisis.

Georgia has been asking for admittance to NATO. If they were a member of NATO, we would be obligated to come to their defense against Russia. Perhaps membership in NATO would have caused Putin to refrain from invading that sovereign country. Whatever, the fact is that it puts us in a dangerous position.

It also puts us in a complex situation. We need a friendly Russia to be on our side in dealing with the nuclear ambitions of Iran. Is it becoming clear?

Bush, ever the moralist with a beam in his own eye, tells Putin, “Shame, shame on you.” He let Vladimir know that it is wrong to invade a sovereign country, except when we do it. How much credibility does he have?

If not for the war in Iraq and the bluster and blather from the Neo-Cons, Iran would be very unlikely to be pushing for nuclear capability. Or, at least not pushing so hard. After all, Iran has serious financial and other internal problems that, under more normal circumstances, would preclude much emphasis on something as expensive as attaining the bomb.

If not for the war in Iraq, Bush would have some moral toehold when lecturing Putin. If not for the war in Iraq, Iran would be very low on our threat indicator. If not for the war in Iraq, we could put more resources fighting Al-qaeda and the Taliban. If not for the war in Iraq, people would not see our military limitations so clearly. Perhaps a perception that we were omnipotent would not have enticed so many challenges.

If we had any moral authority, if we were not bogged down militarily, simply the implied threat that we could represent would have forestalled a Russian adventure. As it is, Russia knows that it can move with impunity anytime it wishes against any of its neighbors. Learn to live with it. We allowed this to come to pass.

The saying that, “No man is an island,” is just as applicable to nations, particularly those powerful enough to be involved in multiple regions of the Earth.

Did I say this was to be short? Sorry about that. The other matter I had on my mind was the Edwards affair. This and the invasion of Georgia took place at the same time. Every television news program I had access to was taking the same three-minutes worth of details about Edwards and trying to fluff it out to fill the time till Britney loses one of her children or Paris loses her virginity.

It seemed that in every hour we would get 47 minutes of Edwards speculation and titillation, 12 minute and 10 seconds of commercials along with 50 seconds on the invasion. Why? Because those in ‘television news’ know how to cover National Enquirer-type gossip but have no understanding of the important issues.

When you see this emphasis on gossip and superficiality on issues, you know that you are watching an entertainment show not a news show. Edwards is, to all intents and purposes, a private citizen. It is a crisis for those immediately involved. Though Edwards was, after Biden and Dodd, my once-upon-a-time candidate (still wishing for someone other than McCain, Obama or Clinton) he is no longer important enough for real reporters to follow around. I am sorely disappointed but it is a personal matter that is not my business.

Someone might argue that he is important because he could have been appointed Secretary of Labor, Attorney General or even one of the Supremes. It is still a personal matter. We survived the dalliances of FDR, Ike, JFK, Lyndon, Ronny, Bush the Elder and Willie. I think the nation could have survived John in an appointed position.

For those who still consider such things important, I wonder how they can have so little interest in the admitted multiple affairs of McCain.

Again, sorry for getting carried away but to me international relations are too important and complex to dismiss with short, little bumper-sticker comments. News is too important to be left to people whose primary relationships are with their agent and their hairdresser.