Holy Crap, what will the actual midlife crisis be like?!

I think one should never take anything a politician says in a speech seriously. It does not represent what the person thinks — it was calculated to elicit a reaction in a particular audience. Thus I am constantly bemused by attempts to pick apart public statements by Bush, Putin, etc. in a search for their real intentions or motives. There is nothing to be found.

I think the people in Washington and Moscow have an understanding that they are going to speak bullshit about each other in public for largely domestic political reasons. What they say in public does not matter. What they say to each other in private does.

PS. feel better!

Yes, I am always skeptical of the aggressive public comments that I read from Putin or the Kremlin in general. I believe recently Rice made some reference to the difference in tone in private conversations with Russia, vs. their public words, etc.

Still, the “poking snotty noses” comment stood out.

I doubt Megan would complain about you saying she is hot. Kostia might, but I doubt he is that jealous type.

Yes, true enough as to what VVP has said recently, but I have to wonder if he really believes it. I think it may be a matter of repackaging a perceived (real or unreal) threat in a form more easily expressed in a soundbite.

Then again, OSCE and US statements about foreign elections are so blatantly hypocritical, who knows? He might even be right.

But then again, Putin and Bush are as we know friends, and I doubt they would be so chummy if they really thought they were gunning for each other.

****

On the OSCE, check out the http://www.bhhrg.org report on Belarus. Be sure to click “Next” marked at the bottom of each page. It’s easy to overlook the full extent of the given BHHRG report. Some pointed comments about the OSCE and a certain Democratic Party legal politico. This mentioned reference is by no means the only critical review of the OSCE.

Hopefully I’ll have time to write a post about the election before Sunday.