PUTIN HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK INTO BUSH'S SOUL TOO-- AND MULL IT OVER A FEW YEARS-- AND HE'S NOT QUITE AS ELATED OR SANGUINE

Most savvy people interested in politics knew Bush was at least borderline retarded long before his first meeting with Soviet dictator Russian president Vladimir Putin in Slovenia back in June of 2001. Those who didn't only had to hear the imbecilic American babbling "I looked the man in the eye. I was able to get a sense of his soul." Neither George Bush nor Vladimir Putin has a soul. The difference between them is that Putin is intelligent enough to recognize it.

Putin could hardly keep a straight face as Bush described him as "trustworthy" and "straightforward." And Putin has run circles around him ever since. Even at that first meeting, while Bush, gushed and blushed like a teenage girl, Putin mentioned that he expected the U.S. to not act unilaterally on matters of importance to Russia. Bush may have been too busy looking for his soul to have understood his words.


It didn't take long for Putin to start treating Bush with contempt. Today, however, he pretty much told Bush, publicly and in the very straightforward manner Bush seems to admire, what he really thinks of him. Today's Washington Post was probably not sent up to the presidential bedroom this morning.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in some of his harshest criticism of the United States since he took office seven years ago, said Saturday that Washington's unilateral, militaristic approach had made the world a more dangerous place than at any time during the Cold War.

"The United States has overstepped its national borders in every way," he said in an address at an annual international security conference here. "Nobody feels secure anymore, because nobody can take safety behind the stone wall of international law... Russia is constantly being taught democracy, and the people who try to teach it don't want to learn it themselves."

The Bush Regime response: "We are surprised and disappointed." I guess they can't say "We are led by a man who is borderline retarded and things will go back to normal in 2 years." The Cheney Coalition, of course, went rushing to Bush's defense. McCain, after referring to Putin as "autocratic," historically a very negative buzz word in Russia, decried "needless confrontation." Lieberman called Putin's remarks "outrageous" and "provocative" and their South Carolina closet queen lil' buddy called the speech "unnecessary bravado" and added that "If you're waiting for Russia to be constructive on Iran, forget it." OK; I'll exhale now.


Whatever you think of Putin-- whether you agree with retardo boy about his soul or see him as a ruthless and Machiavellian political gutfighter-- it is hard to disagree with his premise, that the Bush Regime's militaristic and aggressive policies have pushed nations feeling threatened to seek nuclear weapons. Does this sound unfamiliar? "We are witnessing an almost uncontained hyper-use of military force in international relations... Unilateral, illegitimate actions have not managed to resolve any problems, but made them worse. The wars, local and regional conflicts, have only grown in number. This is very dangerous. Nobody feels secure any more."

The Financial Times interprets Putin's speech to be a declaration of "the end of the unipolar world, which he described as a failure for the world and the US itself." The Europeans are taking Putin's speech very, very seriously-- almost as seriously as Americans are taking the death of Anna Nicole Smith.