What a depressing article. Its impact for me wasn't so much that it was an attack on the GOP but that it's hard to see how anyone has any solution. Everyone's living in la la land.

So boil it down and explain it to some of them. That's what I'm doing.

So 'Bill', what would you have him do? Outside of denouncing the violence and calling for diplomacy, do you know what the other options are? Are you aware of who started the recent bloodshed? You might be surprised if you think Russia just woke up and sent a bunch of tanks and troops across the border that morning.

An even-handed call for restraint while gathering more information is almost certainly a better reaction than belligerently calling for actions which would lead to war which is what McCain did. President Bush himself did more or less what Obama did, which was to call for a ceasefire and take the time to find out more about what was going on before making any more detailed statements.

The president's job in a crisis is to remain cool and collected while everyone else falls to pieces so that when it's decision time, he makes a rational (not emotional) and intelligently thought our choice that serves the nation's best interests. Escalating this conflict by bellicose statements is NOT in the nation's best interest.

Bill first of all you're incorrect about Obama not having mentioned Russia in his statement. Here's the quote - "I strongly condemn the outbreak of violence in Georgia, and urge an immediate end to armed conflict. Now is the time for Georgia and Russia to show restraint, and to avoid an escalation to full scale war. Georgia’s territorial integrity must be respected. All sides should enter into direct talks on behalf of stability in Georgia, and the United States, the United Nations Security Council, and the international community should fully support a peaceful resolution to this crisis.”

Beyond that Obama greenlighted nothing. He's not the president. Your analysis is overly simplistic and assumes that the Georgians had no hand in this, which would be incorrect. You also seems to be of the mind that America knows best and should take charge in any world crisis. The green light for this conflict preceded anything either Obama or McCain could have said yesterday. If anything, McCain's stance on Georgia over the years has been in line with the confrontational "democracy building" philosophy of the Bush administration; and we all know how well that works. In fact McCain's initial statement bordered on bellicose and is a prime example of how the current administration works.