All Not Quiet on the Russian Front

Progressives suffering from Bush Derangement Syndrome declare a moral equivalence between Russia's actions and those of the US. This demonstrates the preposterous lengths to which some will go to discredit President Bush. Bush is not Putin and Georgia is not Iraq.

I especially love it when some enlightened liberal defends Russia by stating that Iraq is far away from the US but Georgia is in Russia's back yard. So then, it's OK to attack someone if they are in your "sphere of influence"? That didn't fly with the left in the 1980s when President Reagan set things straight in Central America, so why it it OK for Russia now? Blind rage against the Bush-Cheney machine has driven the left to illogic.

Despite all that, all we really need to do is look to Russia's former vassal states and see what their opinion is. Hint: It's not pro-Russian. Even retro-Soviet dictatorship Belarus is putting distance between itself and the bear.

All other arguments aside, what does this tell us? It tells us that former Soviet Republics have made an informed judgment call, and they reject Russian imperialism.

So, whose argument should we trust, Bush-hating leftists ensconced in the cushy confines of secure, democratic western society, or the former Soviet republics who sit uneasily upon the fault line and who will bear the consequences of their actions?

So go ahead, progressives. Keep defending imperialist Russia. You're all alone, and the people who know Russia best know you are wrong. You're so far left you've left your senses.