Oh, That's a Good Sign...

So apparently Sarah Palin told Charles Gibson last night that Russia's attack in to Georgia last month was "unprovoked." This was, of course, before she said that she'd be willing to support going to war with Russia over this issue. See the two posts below. This is not a good sign in someone who is second in line to take over this country right behind a guy who looks like the dude the giant alien cockroach wore as a suit in Men In Black (I'm not saying McCain looks like the actor. I'm saying McCain looks like he's wearing an ill-fitting suit made of another guy's skin. He's kinda falling apart). Between Sarah "I have absolutely no concept of how things work in the rest of the world" Palin and John "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" McCain, we're looking at the distinct possibility of a third verse, same as the first Republican Presidency. But now that we've already invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, we're left to choose between Iran, a nation that's even worse at being conquered than the previous two, North Korea, and Russia. Good times! EDIT: Oh, for the love of... I just saw a clip from the Gibson interview. He asked her if she'd be willing to invade Pakistan to go after Bin Laden and got a minute of politician speak about keeping options open peppered with Bush-isms like, "They're trying to destroy America," and making the point repeatedly that, in the end, Pakistan should be grateful to us for taking him out, even if it does require an invasion. Of an ally. Who doesn't like us so much right now. Now, far be it from me to lecture on the finer points of international diplomacy. Hell, pragmatically speaking if Bin Laden is standing in the middle of Paris talking to Sarkozy and he can be taken down, we've got to at least consider the option. As I recall, we're all pretty meh about Nixon's bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam War (well, Cambodia might not be). What we're seeing here, though, is a repeat writ large of the Bush Doctrine, as part of a grand tradition in American foreign policy that goes all the way back to the Monroe Doctrine. The underlying message in the foreign policy as declared here is, "We're America, we get to do anything we want." I believe there's also a, "Everyone else will know we're doing the right thing because we're America, dammit," and a, "Working with people who disagree with us instead of bombing them straight to hell if they don't line up is wimpy," component to it, as well. Either way, I weep for our future if this continues to be our foreign policy. Unfortunately, there are enough easily persuaded xenophobes in America who will see absolutely nothing wrong with this that we might be in for a bumpy ride.