Stealing the 2000 election U.S. presidential election apparently finally caught up with George W. Bush on Thursday as he figured out he really didn't have a leg to stand on when criticizing other countries' commitment to democracy.
For weeks Bush and the Right had implied that when he got to Russia he was going to give President Vladimir Putin a piece of his mind about upholding democracy. Unfortunately for Bush, foreigners read the news critically and are able to add 2 + 2 together and come up with 4.
As the New York Times pointed out, "While raised, Western concerns about the decline in the development of democracy in Russia were muted after a period in which Mr. Bush heightened expectations with soaring language on the irresistible lure of freedom and democracy."
Using a trick William Safire used to do in his kooky New York Times columns, imagine you're in Vlad's mind as Bush is speaking. Don't you think the 2000 Presidential election crossed Vlad's mind, also how the GOP targets politicians who both support and oppose them, and how Bush avoids public town hall events with people who don't agree with him?
One could imagine ol' Vlad thinking Georgie was quite the hypocrite. Perhaps at that point Georgie looked into Vlad's soul and figured out he needed to shut up, now.
The Times pointed out "some political analysts took the public comments as evidence that Mr. Bush had ceded an opportunity to challenge Mr. Putin forcefully on his increasingly autocratic stand."
How could Bush challenge Putin? He has no moral authority to speak on democracy, a point some had predicted would happen because of the 2000 Florida debacle and Bush taking an office he lost, much like the guy in the Ukraine tried to do.
Bush may believe the 2004 election gave him credibility, but while half of Americans are willing to tolerate a hypocrite, the percentage isn't so high elsewhere.
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