Neo-Conservatism on the March in Russia

Where better to see the precepts of neo-con thought put to work than in the post-Stalinist Russia that scared the crap from the original neo-cons way back in the '50s & '60s? Well, granted it's now post-post-Stalinist, & we mustn't forget that during the '30s most of the O. G.s of neo-conservatism were commies of some sort (extra irony) whose faith lapsed. Is it something in the Central & Eastern Euro water? Whatever it is, we don't think it's good news.

Never mind all that. After decades of embarrassing military defeats, in Afghanistan in the 1980s and in Chechnya in the 1990s, Russia is once again a winner. “We can thank the Georgians for a small victorious war; it was helpful for our nation, for Russia,” said Oleg Sergienko, a 38-year-old lawyer who was visiting the exhibition. “For the last 20 years Russia’s sense of identity greatly declined,” added Mr. Sergienko, who fought in one of Russia’s wars, but declined to say which one. “Now there is cohesiveness.”

Yessiree, restore that "national greatness." That's why Bush made all that hoopla about going back to the moon, & getting to Mars (w/o funding, of course) to infuse us w/ the cohesiveness the lawyer above feels. And why Bush or whoever lied us into Iraq. The neo-cons like the idea of huge monuments too. Adding Reagan's mug to Mt. Rushmore, for example. Now, Putin is whining about people shooting at his pwecious soldier boys, calling it a crime. Act of War maybe, but hardly a crime. They're soldiers. They're supposed to be shot at. Vlad may just be trying to stir up further trouble, or to scare the Ukes, but if he doesn't stop rattling that saber it's going to fall off his belt & he'll really look silly.

Without referring to Ukraine's president by name, Putin suggested Yushchenko authorized weapons supplies to Georgia before and during Russia's war there in August. He also alleged that Ukrainian military personnel fought on Georgia's side during the conflict. "When people and military systems are used to kill Russian soldiers, it's a crime," Putin told reporters after meeting with Tymoshenko at his residence outside Moscow. "Only a few years ago, it could not even come to mind, even in a nightmare, that Russians and Ukrainians would be fighting each other. But that happened, and it is a crime."

Not that Ukraine looks like any kind of a paradise either, mind you. Just nothing but trouble over there. Glad everything's fine here. Think I'll just peep at the ol' IRA, see how all that money is piling up.