Will he PLEASE STOP with the "my friends" thing! It's so fucking annoying.

"Once in a while, the depth of John McCain’s foreign policy confusion stops being funny, and starts getting scary."

- true, but the United States has been a scary place generally for the last 5-6yrs.

I think i know what he was MEANING - ie the first crisis since the end of the `cold war` with Soviet Union now Russia.

The fact that he doesn't say things more precisely - is that such a big thing.

Come on Democrats you have bigger fish to fry.

The `non-aligned` Obama supporter i know just said that he is sick of wars and doesn't want to be involved in any more - thus his vote for Obama has been strengthened by Bush!

hmmmmm....

http://www.rense.com/general83/dreep.htm

You said >>> - true, but the United States has been a scary place generally for the last 5-6yrs.

That's the whole POINT! McCain doesn't think anything is wrong here. He's nuts. He's scary.

Really? The very first crisis? Hmm. Is the guy even awake on most days? It's the first serious crisis of the week, maybe. Russia has been trying to play it both ways with Iran, various places in Africa, and with its own citizenry. This is merely the first crisis that McCain has sought to capitalize on for political gain thus far.

America picks and chooses when and if to confront "enemies of democracy". We picked Iraq because the country was already in disarray and the army was weak. Although Russia is not the huge super power it once was, I'm doubting we'll be confronting them anytime soon.

Nasty, angry, old rat(with dirty yellow teeth) using this serious crisis to pimp his non-credentials as President to the criminally stupid. At least Dumbya knew a little bit about sports.

Senile, Delusional, Awkward, Old, Idiotic, Stupid Bitch!

All you Obama critics just keep telling us how there's no difference between Obama and McScary. Then tell us how we should vote for Nader because Obama's in corporate America's back pocket. Then go take a flying leap cause you're just as scary and dangerous as McSame and you deserve everything you're going to get from him.

Problem is you ignorant pukes, you're going to drag the rest of us down with you. Rest in hell you freaks, rest in hell cause that's what this country (and quite possibly the whole world) will be if McLame steals this election.

And how is this not a slap in the face to anyone who lost a loved one on 9/11?

Just wait. The American media and public will forget Georgia even exists within a month. Were people upset by that "disproportional" Israel/Lebanon thing? You bet. Heard it mentioned on the news lately?

What was I talking about? Look! A poodle! heehee A poodle!!

I CAN'T stand him!!! He is beyond ignorant. Since this was displayed on many mass media channel, how can any american endorse this caricature of leadership.

Anyone ever see "The Dead Zone?" Martin Sheen portrays the fiendish, megalomaniacal president Greg Stillson, who is hellbent on bringing about total nuclear annihilation in a war with Russia. I'm terrified of a McCain presidency. I would really like to be alive in another five years.

The possible nuclear war between India and Pakistan doesn't count? The two Congo Wars don't count? The frickin' Gulf War and this Iraq war don't count? The Tibet crisis of a few months ago doesn't count? The near-war between Venuzeala and Colombia doesn't count? The Israeli-Lebanese war two years ago doesn't count? The war in Somalia doesn't count?

And those are only a few. How'd this guy win the nomination? I'm officially scared.

He's my friend? Automatically? Arrogant and assumptive intimacy is gross. I don't want a foreign diplomat getting surprise shoulder massages from him, either.

It's beyond my obviously lacking imagination to grasp why this guy isn't in the 29% area same as gw. I find it impossible to believe that 50% of the American population can possibly be that stupid and yet the polls keep telling me different. Amazing.

The MSM sluts continue to kiss this dusty old fucks ass claiming McDinosaur looks "Presidential in the way he's handling this crisis".....now what the hell does this mean to anyone with at least a GED?

McCain must be coaching Saakashvili

"Talk to the villagers... These (invaders) are 21st century barbarians. You are dealing with people who despise everything human, everything nice, everything modern and everything European.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24189964-5005961,00.html

>"Get off my lawn!!!"

For someone who has been around for so long, his knowledge of international affairs since 1989/1991 is almost embaracing. "First conflict"? Tell that to the Balkans and Central Africa.

Samson- @ 31:

Chicken_Hussein_Little-NOT!!@18

wow, lots of hate in there. and some inaccuracies too.

Nope, no hatred. Lots, lots and LOTS of anger, frustration and fear for my daughter's generation but hate, no what's the point. As to the "inaccuracies" please feel free to enlighten me. This I'm looking forward to.

I know it can be trying for the elderly to remember what they had for breakfast let alone what happened a weelago, but maybe someone should give a whisper into McSames ear ( which ever one is still working ) and remind him that it was Georgia at the prompting of the US to go into Osettia and that it wasn't the Russians that invaded first.
I guess if push comes to shove, some can provide the old boy with Gorby's telephone # so he can straighten him out.

Former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev gave a good summary of events in an op-ed in Monday's Washington Post:

"For some time, relative calm was maintained in South Ossetia. The peacekeeping force composed of Russians, Georgians and Ossetians fulfilled its mission, and ordinary Ossetians and Georgians, who live close to each other, found at least some common ground....What happened on the night of Aug. 7 is beyond comprehension. The Georgian military attacked the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali with multiple rocket launchers designed to devastate large areas....Mounting a military assault against innocents was a reckless decision whose tragic consequences, for thousands of people of different nationalities, are now clear. The Georgian leadership could do this only with the perceived support and encouragement of a much more powerful force. Georgian armed forces were trained by hundreds of U.S. instructors, and its sophisticated military equipment was bought in a number of countries. This, coupled with the promise of NATO membership, emboldened Georgian leaders into thinking that they could get away with a "blitzkrieg" in South Ossetia...Russia had to respond. To accuse it of aggression against "small, defenseless Georgia" is not just hypocritical but shows a lack of humanity." ("A Path to Peace in the Caucasus", Mikhail Gorbachev, Washington Post)
The question for Americans is whether they trust Mikhail Gorbachev more than the corporate media? Never mind. I think I know the answer to that one.

My countrymen are dead by the thousands and McCain has the nerve to say this?

Andrew @ 43:

I know it can be trying for the elderly to remember what they had for breakfast let alone what happened a weelago, but maybe someone should give a whisper into McSames ear ( which ever one is still working ) and remind him that it was Georgia at the prompting of the US to go into Osettia and that it wasn't the Russians that invaded first.
I guess if push comes to shove, some can provide the old boy with Gorby's telephone # so he can straighten him out.

Former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev gave a good summary of events in an op-ed in Monday's Washington Post:

"For some time, relative calm was maintained in South Ossetia. The peacekeeping force composed of Russians, Georgians and Ossetians fulfilled its mission, and ordinary Ossetians and Georgians, who live close to each other, found at least some common ground....What happened on the night of Aug. 7 is beyond comprehension. The Georgian military attacked the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali with multiple rocket launchers designed to devastate large areas....Mounting a military assault against innocents was a reckless decision whose tragic consequences, for thousands of people of different nationalities, are now clear. The Georgian leadership could do this only with the perceived support and encouragement of a much more powerful force. Georgian armed forces were trained by hundreds of U.S. instructors, and its sophisticated military equipment was bought in a number of countries. This, coupled with the promise of NATO membership, emboldened Georgian leaders into thinking that they could get away with a "blitzkrieg" in South Ossetia...Russia had to respond. To accuse it of aggression against "small, defenseless Georgia" is not just hypocritical but shows a lack of humanity." ("A Path to Peace in the Caucasus", Mikhail Gorbachev, Washington Post)
The question for Americans is whether they trust Mikhail Gorbachev more than the corporate media? Never mind. I think I know the answer to that one.

On this, I trust neither. I'm getting my information from British news and Al-Jazeera English on this.

The Wanderer @ 7:

When a politician starts referring to me as his "friend," I start feeling a certain penetrating pain in my anus. And it's not pleasant.

Seriously, someone needs to put McCain's brain under the PET scanner or an MRI in order to see if he's starting to get Alzheimer's. Early detection is essential if we don't want another, even more unstable Reagan in the White House.

We don't have the military or moral muscle to dictate to anyone any longer, and Russia knows it.

His "friend" thing is like a car salesman beginning every sentence he says to you starting it off with your first name.

Left&Left @ 48:

Where are the freaks who come here LYING with the baseless bullshit claim that there's no difference between Obama this stupid old fraud?
Go ahead America...ass fuck yourself by voting in this dried up stack of shit.

Only thing I can figure is they don't have kids. I've had a great life and whatever happens to me can't change that fact, but damn I want my daughter and my friend's kids to have a shot at having a great life as well.

This planet is a pretty cool place to hang out but not if we're all involved in an eternal war with nothing to gain and everything to lose. How come so many people are willing to let someone like McCain even get a shot at screwing things up totally and finally?

I guess Bosnia and Kosovo don't count?

Warning to Poland
As the West pressed for peace, Russian Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn was quoted by Interfax News Agency on Friday as saying that by accepting a U.S. missile defense battery Poland "is exposing itself to a strike."

He pointed out that Russian military doctrine permits the use of nuclear weapons "against the allies of countries having nuclear weapons if they in some way help them," Interfax reported.

Poland and the U.S. signed a deal Thursday for Poland to accept a missile defense battery as part of a system the United States says is aimed at blocking attacks by rogue nations but that Moscow claims is aimed at weakening Russia.

Also Friday, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said the number of people who have been displaced by the fighting in Georgia has risen above 118,000. Some 73,000 of those are Georgians who have remained in the country, said UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond.

as has already been pointed out, he means first crisis between Russia and the US since the cold war.

I hate McCain but i think people have the wrong end of the stick with this one.

andy @ 57:

as has already been pointed out, he means first crisis between Russia and the US since the cold war.

How do you know? Do you have a crystal ball that tells you what McCain "means" all the time? Maybe you can tell us what he "means" when he says that Iraq is the first major conflict post-9/11 while you're at it.

Besides, even if this is what he "means", it's still incorrect.

Like I said above, if you're going to claim that the Russia-Georgia conflict is somehow a crisis between Russia and the U.S., then you must also concede that the Russia-Chechnya conflicts from 1994-1999 were also a crisis between Russia and the U.S. Ergo the statement that the Russia-Georgia conflict is the first crisis between Russia and the U.S. since the end of the cold war is false on either one or both pretenses. Q.E.D.

Unless you mean that it's only a crisis between Russia and the U.S. when one of John McCain's advisors happens to have lobbying ties to the country in question, in which case you've just opened a whole new can of worms...

Well Samson since I don't have a clue what the bleep the "research yourself, nor followed any links provided" you're talking about so our discourse is going to be pretty limited here. Here are my major points.

1. Obama may or may not be for real. One thing's for sure he's not going to save us. However he may allow us the opportunity to save ourselves, maybe not.

2. McCain will accelerate the downhill slide we are on and that won't stop until we are a wholly owned subsidiary of the multi-national corporate bloc that is currently manipulating and orchestrating the disaster we've been involved in for the past 7 years.

3. Ralph Nader is a non-entity politically. He has diluted the effect of his earlier accomplishments by playing the spoiler in 2000. Unfortunately (and perhaps unfairly) that's going to his legacy.

4. A vote (or not voting at all) for anyone other than Obama in Nov is a vote for McCain and the subsequent dismemberment of our country.

Now you feel free to critique and explain where I'm out of line. I'm mightily tired of reading the sanctimonious bleating of those who feel Obama isn't "enough." He's what we've got to work with. Deal with it. Don't like him? Get him elected and then work your butt off to get someone better elected in 2012.

I guess McCain wasn't aware of what occured in the former Yugoslavia and that there are still peace keeping forces in Kosovo, that Kosovo is still unstable and a point of contention.

It reminds me of the funny captions under the photos of George W at the Olympics, the one in which is he shown speaking to Putin. The caption reads, "Oh, that George!"

An inbecile and a dottering clown.

Samson- @ 56:

ChickenHusseinLittle-NOT!!@51

is that a subtle (see, cowardly) way to imply that i don't care about the future?

i don't want mccain to win. i just wish obama wouldn't move to the right.

Get over yourself Samson, I really don't give a rip how you feel about anything. You are either part of the solution or you are part of the destruction.

Obama is doing what politicians do if they want to get elected. Will he sell us out if he does get elected? Maybe, I sure as hell am not privy to his private thoughts or inner sanctum. What I do know beyond any shadow of a doubt is that McCain is an unmitigated disaster.

I'll always take a shot at a possibility rather than give up and accept a horrific disaster. How you play the game is your business, I'm just venting my spleen after getting back from the auction of a friend's farm. He lost it because his wife recently died of breast cancer and they couldn't get insurance. Probably not the best day for me to be posting but I AM PISSED!!

McMaverick is a disaster..and maybe even worse than Bush....his meddling fed the Mess over in Georgia....and WHY he made multiple trips there as a Senator should be Investigated,esp if it fed or contributed to an International Crisis and Cold War Resurgence.....he is a Nightmare....we don't need any more Neoconal wet dreams and war mongering...

McCain announed today that if he were President he would send troups to
Atlanta to help protect Texas.

Olsonist @ 53:

I guess Bosnia and Kosovo don't count?

Unless you are the one who don't count right, those happened in the XX century (for the most part)

mudshark @ 55:

Warning to Poland
As the West pressed for peace, Russian Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn was quoted by Interfax News Agency on Friday as saying that by accepting a U.S. missile defense battery Poland "is exposing itself to a strike."

He pointed out that Russian military doctrine permits the use of nuclear weapons "against the allies of countries having nuclear weapons if they in some way help them," Interfax reported.

Poland and the U.S. signed a deal Thursday for Poland to accept a missile defense battery as part of a system the United States says is aimed at blocking attacks by rogue nations but that Moscow claims is aimed at weakening Russia.

Also Friday, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said the number of people who have been displaced by the fighting in Georgia has risen above 118,000. Some 73,000 of those are Georgians who have remained in the country, said UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond.

When The Soviet Union put missiles into Cuba the US was ready to start WWIII and damn near did! So should it surprise you that when Bush, Cheney and McCain advocate pulling Russia's border states into NATO and putting missiles on their border that they would react?

The moral to this story is "Don't poke the Bear and if you do... don't cry when he swats you!"

This is a perspective that is well worth reading:

Blowback from Bear Baiting
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/08/blowback_from_bear_bai...

Joe @ 26:

Anyone ever see "The Dead Zone?" Martin Sheen portrays the fiendish, megalomaniacal president Greg Stillson, who is hellbent on bringing about total nuclear annihilation in a war with Russia. I'm terrified of a McCain presidency. I would really like to be alive in another five years.

I saw that ,movie. Sheen played a man running for prez. Christopher Walken "sees" this when he shakes his hand and tries to kill Sheen. Sheen grabs a kid and uses her as a shield, Walken is shot, but the people have seen through Stillson and his candidacy is over.

Let's hope enough people "see" through McScarey. He is totally insane.

Tyler Durden @ 72:

The USA has always had a weird sense of entitlement, manifest destiny... anyone?

I love how when discussing the Cuban Missile Crisis, most people omit the fact that the USA had put nukes in Turkey forcing the USSR to follow suit by finding a way to place nukes on our backyard just like we did to them.

At the risk of annoying some of you even more here goes. The unvarnished short version of the truth about this country is this: the current ruling elite are for the most part descendants of those who were either religious freaks, criminals or opportunists who landed on the last large sparsely populated land mass on the planet. Talk about a bunch of whackjobs landing in the candy store; forests, fertile land, minerals, "limitless" resources there for the taking. All they had to do was justify wiping out the indigenous population by selling the underclass on the "rightness" of their actions. There's really nothing weird about their attitudes or actions, just the worst of human nature running amok yet again through the 17th to mid 20th century.

Then we get a brief respite with the rise of the middle class, an anomaly, only tolerated because the rich had so much they allowed the little people to think they mattered. Primarily allowed because it was making the rich richer.

Now things are getting a little tight on the planet, guess what's going to happen if we continue to let the descendants of religious freaks, criminals and opportunists run the show.

Tyler Durden@72

Since its inception! Some of us are victims economically and socially, to this very day, of the wasp perpetrators of that myth. But hey, the Constitution is a pretty remarkable document, if you can somehow believe the power now being wielded by the idiotocracy has only been delegated and ultimately lies in the people. Its getting harder and harder to do so, ain't it?

Chicken Hussein Little - NOT!!@77

Here, here! Well put!

Tyler Durden @ 72:

McDuff @ 70:

Russia's patience is actually quite admirable given the United States' actions in the region and BushCo's attempts to take over pipelines and sovereign lands while encircling Russia with missiles.

The USA has always had a weird sense of entitlement, manifest destiny... anyone?

I love how when discussing the Cuban Missile Crisis, most people omit the fact that the USA had put nukes in Turkey forcing the USSR to follow suit by finding a way to place nukes on our backyard just like we did to them.

Ahhh, the truth. Sure feels good to know that someone else hasn't swallowed the DC/Hollywood/Dem/Repub version. Kruschev was the true "hero" -- pragmatist might be a better word -- and should have been awarded the Nobel Peace prize as per Bertrand Russell's suggestion. The Kennedy's?? A bunch of corporatist, elitist jingoists whose old man was cut from the European tradition of royal families, empty ritual and deception of/contempt for the citizen.

This IS the first serious international conflict for McCain. 9/11 doesn't count because that was an inside job that allowed the neo-cons to launch the wars on Aghanistan and Iraq.

Iraq and Afghanistan aren't serious international conflicts because they are BUSINESS DEALS. Afghanistan has a pipeline from former oil-rich Russian states and Iraq has SO MUCH OIL that the war will pay for itself!!

Alfred E. McCain says, "What, me worry?"

mike@32 Says: It’s beyond my obviously lacking imagination to grasp why this guy isn’t in the 29% area same as gw. I find it impossible to believe that 50% of the American population can possibly be that stupid and yet the polls keep telling me different. Amazing.

It's called racism. Don't believe it isn't. It isn't about religion. It isn't about experience. This is the party that fought tooth and nail, all the way past Reagan, to keep racism institutionalized in this country. And McCain is one of them, bought and paid for.

Cheney made sure there is some conflict for McCain, but don't call him at 3 AM
I doubt he remembers his name

Every day, since bu$h was handed the presidency, has been the "first serious crisis" since the end of the Cold War.

Samson- @ 91:

Chicken Hussein Little - NOT!! @ 85:

Well Samson, this getting old. You've written a lot and said nothing, just acting like I'm persecuting you and hurting your feelings. As to "damning you to hell", if you're voting for anyone but Obama this Nov then in my opinion you're doing your part to damn us and future generations to a living hell on earth.

We certainly will never now whether we see the "current state of the world the same way" since I have no idea how you see the world at this time and you have done nothing illuminate me regarding your opinion.

As to "the responsibility of the populace in representative democracies", try this on for size. When the people lead, the leaders will follow. Kinda' catch don't you think, wish I could take credit for coming up with it.

Maybe on a day that my friend hasn't lost everything dear to him we might be closer than you think.

your comments i did take personally. as they were insulting. but you didn't hurt my feelings. i need to respect someone before they can hurt my feelings.

and when obama backtracks on NAFTA, votes for the FISA capitulation bill, supports giving our tax dollars to religious institutions, employs wal mart lobbyists, believes in the "free"market, etc. i feel that something needs to be said. and when people like me point this stuff out people like you come in to try to stifle any dissent, any straying, any questioning. which makes it very ironic that YOU would throw in the cliche "when the people lead, the leaders will follow," as you seem to be a follower of the leader.

and you are right this is old.

i tried to be understanding as to your situation but using your friend's tragedy as an excuse has gotten old too. you don't hold the market on tragedy.

Well old son you feel free to point all that stuff out and I agree with everything you posted regarding Obama's behavior, I don't like any of those things Obama has done and I'm profoundly disappointed that he's taken those positions.

That said, so long as you don't do anything that enables McCain to take the office next January I'm good with anything you say or do. On the other hand, if anything you say or do discourages a person from voting or voting for a candidate other than Obama then you're part of the problem.

Deal with it, it should be fun to see how you twist this one around.

91 Samson- Says: Chicken Hussein Little - NOT!! @ 85:
=====================

I'm weighing in with Chicken Little. How could anyone think of voting McSame? I can't even listen to him. I don't care if Obama is not perfect, who is? (He's also trying to get elected in the crazy-fucked-up-brain-dead-USA, so he's gotta pander somewhat.) I care that McSame is another GOP warmonger and he has fatal flaws of judgement (if he even decides anything, or just reads the teleprompter-loaded-by-Cheney), and would make a HORRIBLE president.

Tyler Durden @ 73:

McDuff @ 70:

Russia's patience is actually quite admirable given the United States' actions in the region and BushCo's attempts to take over pipelines and sovereign lands while encircling Russia with missiles.

The USA has always had a weird sense of entitlement, manifest destiny... anyone?

I love how when discussing the Cuban Missile Crisis, most people omit the fact that the USA had put nukes in Turkey forcing the USSR to follow suit by finding a way to place nukes on our backyard just like we did to them.

Well...

Containment was a polite substitute for "encircle the crazy Red bastards," which would not have been polite to say in that day, but regardless, that's what it meant. The USSR was always much more vulnerable in the Cold War than we were, in large part because the Soviet Navy sucked balls.

i hope americans wake up and understand that this all came about because the repugs are total incompetents in all facets

failures on domestic issues

failures on foreign affairs

my friends...a vote for mcoldcrazyman is a vote for more incompetence

He stupid.

mccain forgot to add "....and if you elect me, it definitely won't be the last."

Uh, the Cold War ended in 1991. Maybe he never heard of the Siege of Sarajevo (1992).