The Contenders

The men who would be president have been tossed a hot ticket to instant stardom, as the back-seat drivers in the latest alert on the world stage, the Russian invasion of Georgia. As an object lesson that one should never take too many steps away from the podium at a time of psychological entreaty and emphatic avowals of readiness, there was Republican Senator John McCain at the ready, and foaming at the bit.

While weary world-travelling Democratic Senator Barak Obama was resting on his early laurels, enjoying peace and privacy on a family vacation, in Hawaii. Swift out of the starting-gate, the old warrior knew how to react. Consolidating his reputation as a candidate with impressive experience in the art of war, in foreign policy relations, and burnishing his suspicion-of-Russia position, he roared like the old lion he is.

"Today, we are all Georgians!" he declared. Actually, he's right in a sense, the international community is fairly well agreed on that. In that there's full agreement that most of the world views Russia's resurgently-blunt brutalism with both distaste and apprehension. But he also proved that there's more than mere bluster cooking away in his cerebellum.

Calling for an emergency meeting of NATO's executive council. Well, no need to call for it, they're all scrambling to put together some kind of unified response that would instill fear in the heart of Vladimir Putin. As one, they plan to declare that he's been wickedly awful, and they expected better of him; they're bitterly disappointed in his actions, and he should be ashamed of himself. That'll do it.

Mr. McCain has also recommended an international peacekeeping force be sent to South Ossetia. He hinted darkly that Russia will be punished; steps may be taken to expel it from the Group of Eight, and his application for the World Trade Organization may just find itself flushed down the toilet.

All of which is certain to devastate the prime minister of Russia and his assiduously servile president ("Georgia must pay reparations..."), both of whom are now basking in the adulation of their population, thrilled at the drama of it all, restoring Russia to its deservedly-premier place in Eastern Europe.

But lest we sell Mr. McCain short, it should be noted that the current administration has adopted a few of his better recommendations. Audaciously, given the limp position of the United States in the matter of dropping its guard and encouraging Georgia's President Saakashvili to rash action, the United States has issued stern warnings, and has deployed its military to ferry humanitarian supplies to the devastated country.

The tongue-lashing Senator McCain indulged in, directing outraged vitriol toward a supremely indifferent Russia, at the very least gave cold comfort to Georgians who were convinced that America the Great would come to their rescue. The truly unfortunate result of which would most surely have been to advance World War III. Definitely unclever, demonstrably insane.

So yes, Senator McCain did present as not only seniorly-Senatorial, but providentially-presidential as well, in defence of justice and the well-being of America's allies. While Senator Obama, rather late out of the gate in the guise of presenting a measured response, appeared at first to be a trifle too measured, unwilling to allocate blame to one side or t'other.

He unerringly demonstrated the classical UN approach.

It's out there, very telling in a very real sense. And clear as mud. Take yer pick.