Election Issue #1: the Rebirth of the Bear

From now through election day, the Bark will break down assorted matters of importance to you the American citizen.

They may be time-sensitive, as is this first issue, or they may be eternal and generational matters, such as the budget and the Supreme Court.

But let's begin with the ongoing Russian rape of the republic of Georgia.

The conflict may seem worlds away, but, rest assured, this is a deadly serious matter.

A sovereign, democratic nation is being raped and brutalized by a bunch of barbaric KGB soldiers and revolutionaries who have extended their killing and mayhem to defenseless civilians.

It is unthinkable.

The Russians have blown up swimming pools, blown up airports, blown up railroads and factories and schools, and left the bodies of Georgian soldiers out to rot in the August sun.

The Bear is again on the march, and the world's response is...well, nothing.

Unless you believe words can deter a man like Vladimir Putin.

Putin, of course, no longer holds the Presidency, but the Russian "democracy" that "elected" Putin's underling Dimitry Medvedev knows the country is in the grip of fascism.

Indeed, Putin is the most powerful ruler in Russian history, even more powerful than Stalin.

And he's on a mission. A mission to restore the Soviet Union.

What does that mean?

That means that Ukraine is next, Latvia is next, Poland is next.

We once thought the Cold War was over. That no longer appears to be the case. Mikhail Gorbachev said so himself on one of the cable news networks last week.

So, in the worst of times, as we deal with China, as we deal with Iran, as we deal with ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and with terrorists everywhere, the Russians emerge once more.

What they have done to an American ally is a display of where the intentions of the former KGB really lie.

What does the USA need?

Someone who can stare down Putin eyeball to eyeball.

Any takers?