Fred Thompson has an interesting article in Townhall today, the main point of which is that McCain has the necessary experience, understanding and strength of will to be the leader of the Free World over the next few dangerous years, and Obama has not.  MacCain’s first-hand knowledge of Georgia and quick grasp of what Russia intends by invading the small Western-allied democracy is a vivid illustration of his contention.  The whole thing is worth reading. But one part of the information it contains strikes us as puzzling and shocking.  He says:

Former Soviet provinces have faced all forms of intimidation, from thuggish trade shakedowns to cyber attacks that shut down communications with the outside world. And whether a former satellite like Poland or a longtime western ally like Germany, Russia has made overt threats over plans to bring eastern European countries into NATO or to deploy a U.S.-provided missile defense system.

Russia is not above using anything at its disposal to make its point. It is a wealthy nation, built on a petro-economy that provides oil and gas to dependent European nations, which are petrified of having their energy supplies disrupted and are now in their own economic doldrums.

Given all this, Russia’s incursion into Georgia is a logical extension of Putin’s autocratic words and deeds and Russia’s regional ambitions, which must be leaving those nations closest to Russia’s borders – the Baltic states and Ukraine – nervous about a bitter and uneasy winter.

All the while, in Eastern Europe some of America’s staunchest friends are watching to see what the reaction of the U.S. and the west will be to Russia’s latest gambit. The U.S. and others use the word “unacceptable,” undoubtedly with the same effect that we get when we use it with the Iranians. So do we threaten Russia with denial of the membership in the World Trade Organization that it so covets? Do we expedite Georgia and the Ukraine’s entry into NATO? Do we cut off the tens of millions that we send into Russia to – hopefully – provide for security of nuclear materials? Everything should be on the table.

‘Russia is a wealthy nation’ - okay. Then why is the US sending ‘tens of millions’  to Russia? How does this ‘provide  for security of nuclear materials’?  Is this a form of extortion? Who in the US was responsible for the descision to do this? When? Answers are urgently required. 

 From the Financial Times:

It was Mr McCain who set the initial tone with a strong statement last Friday several hours before official word from the administration – and then again on Monday morning with a shopping list of tough policy responses for Mr Bush. These included shoring up support for Ukraine, which hosts Russia’s Crimean fleet, and steps to protect the Caspian pipeline that runs from Azerbaijan to Turkey via Georgia – all allies of the US.

“Russia’s aggression against Georgia is both a matter of urgent moral and strategic importance to the United States,” said Mr McCain. “The implications go beyond their threat to a democratic Georgia. Russia is using violence against Georgia, in part, to intimidate other neighbours such as Ukraine, for choosing to associate with the West.”

In this time of crisis McCain is the only intelligent choice for President.  

 Obama will never be ready to be president. He is not the man for the job. 

Power Line shares and substantiates this opinion:

McCain has strongly and unequivocally come out in support of our ally Georgia, while placing the onus for the war squarely where it belongs, on Russia. In this, he has aligned himself with our most loyal European allies. Obama, on the other hand, issued the sort of vapid statement that would ingratiate him with the State Department while not requiring any distraction from his Hawaii vacation. An interesting point, by the way: McCain is supposed to be the old guy, but Obama is the one who needs a vacation.

Here is the latest from the McCain campaign:

This afternoon I spoke, for the second time since the crisis began, with Georgian President Saakashvili. It is clear the situation is dire. Russian aggression against Georgia continues, with attacks occurring far beyond the Georgian region of South Ossetia. As casualties continue to mount, the international community must do all it can to avert further escalations. Tensions and hostilities between Georgians and Ossetians are in no way justification for Russian troops crossing an internationally recognized border. I again call on the Government of Russia to immediately and unconditionally withdraw its forces from the territory of Georgia.

Given this threat to Euro-Atlantic security, I am pleased to see the United States, the European Union, and NATO acting together by sending a delegation to the region, in an effort to broker a cease fire. This is an important first step.

The United Nations has been prevented from taking any meaningful action by Russian objections. In view of this, I welcome the statements of democratic nations defending the sovereignty of Georgia and condemning Russian actions.

I strongly support the declaration issued by the Presidents of Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and their commitment that ‘aggression against a small country in Europe will not be passed over in silence or with meaningless statements equating the victims with the victimizers.’

 

I doubt that the Europeans were thinking of Obama when they wrote this, but who knows? Maybe they had seen this "meaningless statement equating the victims with the victimizers" from the Obama campaign:

It’s both sides’ fault — both have been somewhat provocative with each other.

McCain’s statement continues:

I share their regret that NATO’s decision to withhold from Georgia a Membership Action Plan may have been viewed as a green light for aggression in the region. As they propose, a new international peacekeeping force should be created, in light of – as they observe – the ‘obvious bankruptcy of Russian "peacekeeping operations" in its immediate neighborhood.’ In addition, Finnish Foreign Minister Stubb, the Chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, has said there can be no return to the status quo in South Ossetia and that Russia cannot serve as a mediator in the South Ossetian conflict. Each of these leaders represents a country that has undergone what Georgia is now experiencing.

That last is a key point, but one that is no doubt lost on Obama and his advisers. It is often said that Obama is not ready to be President, but I don’t think this is exactly right. It seems pretty obvious that Obama, given his temperament, his self-regard, his blithe ignorance of history and of the material conditions of life on this planet, will never be ready to be President. He is not unready: he is unsuited for, and inadequate to, the office.

Three obvious battle-cries for the McCain campaign:

LOWER TAXES

DRILL FOR OIL 

VICTORY IN IRAQ

They’re short and sweet. They need to be called out loud and clear and often. 

And they are winners. 

 At last someone dares to utter the truth about who our enemy is. Robert Spencer writes in Front Page Magazine:

Muslim spokesmen in the U.S. are outraged over remarks made last Friday by Bud Day, a key supporter of John McCain. Day, a much-decorated Air Force Colonel and Medal of Honor recipient who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam with McCain, said during a conference call organized by the Florida Republican Party that “the Muslims have said either we kneel, or they’re going to kill us.” Day added: “I don’t intend to kneel, and I don’t advocate to anybody that we kneel, and John doesn’t advocate to anybody that we kneel.”

The reaction was swift. Saif Ishoof, president of the Center for Voter Advocacy, said that Day’s remarks were “perpetuating a form of Islamophobia.” Khaled Saffuri, the Executive Director of the Islamic Institute (which he co-founded with Grover Norquist), was also deeply offended. “‘This is as close to racist as it gets,” he declared. “These are cheap street tactics. Even if this is called a mistake or a slip of the tongue, it shows a bigger problem with racism. McCain and the Republican party should denounce this.” (Keith Olbermann also termed Day’s words “racism and religious hatred,” although neither he nor Saffuri explained what race Islam is.)

Please don’t apologize, retract, or in any way qualify what you said, Bud Day!  

 That Israel should unnecessarily capitulate to Hizbullah is  distressing enough, but that America should capitulate to Iran is not only distressing, it is immensely dangerous.

Yet that apparently is what ‘s happening. The US is reopening diplomatic relations with the Iranians. If the State Department has excelled itself in wanting to act even more against American interests than usual, why has President Bush let it do so? Or was it his own idea?    

His Middle East policy was reduced to tatters when he and Rice did all they could to sell Israel out to Abbas the Terrorist.

Then he went on his knees to Saudi Arabia for more oil. 

Now he’s crawling to Ahmadinejad.

Speak up, John McCain! Say  you are disgusted! Promise to use America’s might on the side of right!

 Jennifer Rubin writes on the Contentions website of Commentary Magazine:

The Wesley Clark mess is not going away – in large part because Barack Obama seems compelled to double down, or at the very least ignore the warning flares being sent up my the amazed mainstream media. Now the MSM is in full feeding frenzy because, for unknown reasons, Obama may be listening to the loony Left which is encouraging him to resist apologizing for Clark’s mega-gaffe. As Rick Klein details, whatever opportunity Obama might have used to allow his patriotism speech to be construed as an apology and whatever chances he had to expunge Clark’s insults have now been tossed away. And McCain now is daring himto cut Clark “loose” — an unlikely occurrence given that Obama has thrown his lot in with the far Left on this one. (Besides, Clark hasn’t gone to the National Press Club to denounce Obama as just another phony politician.) Indeed his spokesman doesn’t even know how to cut Clark loose, she says. (Hint: “I want no part of Clark representing me; he’s an embarassment.”)

So we have Obama’s entirely self-created blunder where even the MSM is virtually slack-jawed at the sight of the Obama campaign’s determination to inflict more and more damage upon itself. His atrocious judgment in perpetuating a horrible storyline for himself defies the pre-existing media narrative — that Obama is smart, savvy, world-wise, and adept. Not the Obama we have seen lately: he is either paralyzed by indecision or in such a cocoon of liberal elitism that he sees nothing wrong with attacking a war hero’s military service.

The McCain camp is going to town because its opponent has simply reinforced the McCain storyline that Obama — the man with no national record and scant national service of his own — is arrogant and ill equipped to navigate through mildly rocky political waters. One can hardly fault the mainstream media for its surprise. Obama’s behavior is remarkable to those whodoubted Obama’s credentials; it must be shocking to those who thought he was the brightest new political light in a generation. Not since Howard Dean’s wail have we seen such an act of self-destruction.

 

 ‘If Obama wins, the sharpest lurch left in American history is ahead of us.’

Read here the fearsome reasons why Obama is a threat to America. Follow the link to the story of the decaying slums in Chicago.  

 Being shot down is not a qualification for the presidency, according to Wesley Clark (denigrating John McCain).

True enough. 

But what does qualify a person for that awesome responsibility, which includes responsibility as commander-in-chief?

Experience in administration … good judgment … knowledge of world affairs … military experience …  strength of character … decisiveness …  

Which of these attributes does Barack Obama have?  

A talent for demagoguery we’ll grant  him. But anything else?

 The most far-reaching power that a president has is the power to appoint judges to the Supreme Court.  The effect of his choices will continue for a long time after his own tenure of office has passed. It’s vital that judges should be appointed who will uphold the Constitution . 

That is one of the best reasons to vote for McCain.

Read the great Thomas Sowell on this subject here.