Guys, this man is fucking brilliant, ruthless, and ex-KGB.

He's like a syereotypical James Bond villian, even has the cool nickname "The Grey Cardinal" from his days in the KGB.

Did I mention he was in the KBG? Oh? Yeah, well, he was.

Anyone think he was counting on this reaction? That we're all falling for his nuanced and well-planne scheme because we're so fucking predictable in our political discourse that it's pathetic?

He counted on the self-loathing Western left, always wondering what *we* did wrong, how it *has* to be our fault and thereby making the silly comparison of our war to destroy a tyrrany (Iraq) with a war to destroy a democracy (Georgia).

He expected the demoralized right, angry at the seeming impotence...wait...the actual impotence of the EU, UN, and World courts attacking their fellow liberal westerners despite the fact that both agree it was wrong or an overreaction.

He's probably planned this for years, moving russians into authority in "disputed" areas, making russians via passport distribution, and encouraging rebels to attack georgia waiting for the Georgians to finally get sick of it and hit back, which is their right, but one he can twist into a Casus Belli to suit his needs.

For all the hate GW gets, Putin is the one murdering democracy.

Unless you don't believe Kasparov and think that all those Putin opposers in the press and political realm of Russia had "accidents".

Yeah...like how nuclear poison "accidently" wound up in the veins of a Putin opponent in the UK or that Ukranian politician was "accidently" poisoned when he dared challenge the guy Russia wanted in power.

I wonder how many more "persecuted russians" we'll hear about in Ukraine and Lithuania to serve as convenient causes for war in the future.....