Russian Roulette

Russian roulette is a potentially lethal game of chance in which participants place a cartridge in a revolver, spin the cylinder, place the muzzle against themselves and pull the trigger.

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Isn't Condoleeza Rice's speciality supposed to be Russian studies?

Shouldn't she have seen this debacle with Soviet Georgia happening months, even years ago? Rice wasn't a great Secretary of National Security, she failed the job and should have been fired (remember 9-11 happened on her watch).

Now as Secretay of State she's failing again.

Perhaps I am being unfair, afterall, she was on vacation when Russia invaded Soviet Georgia. And her boss, George W. Bush, was chillin in China, a place so polluted that American athletes probably shouldn't be there. Bush could have stayed there if he wanted.

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Russia is supposedly the birthplace of the game. Roulette refers to the element of risk taking and the spinning of the revolver's cylinder being reminiscent of the spinning of the roulette wheel.

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No, really, maybe I shouldn't fault Condi's job performance. I mean, it was only a few short years ago that President Bush proclaimed he'd looked into then-Russian President Vladimir Putin's soul, and had seen how "good" the man was.

Bull-hockey.

Pardon my language, but Putin has been crushing press and other freedoms for about as long as Bush has been in the White House. Anybody with half a brain could have predicted the path Russia was taking. If only Bush had been looking at facts instead of trying to see inside somebody's soul, he might have seen what was really happening.

Putin is no longer President of Russia, but he's still very much in control. Bush called Russia a bully last week. Oh now Putin isn't a good guy. Can America make up its mind, please?

Forget for the moment that Bush ought to have learned his lesson years ago about name-calling, forget even that everybody knows Bush is selling wolf tickets. Our military is so bogged down in the Middle East that America can't do a damn thing in terms of coming to yet another country's rescue.

Sigh...

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The form of the game can be as varied as the participants or their motives (displays of bravado, suicide etc.), but typically a single round is placed in a six-shot revolver resulting in a small chance of the revolver discharging the round.

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The limits of America's power have never been so visible. Thanks to Mr. Bush. America is no longer the most powerful nation in the world, Russia and China are proof-positive of that. We are naked, and the world sees us for what we are, The Great Pretender.

Condi Rice went to Tiblisi, the capitol of Georgia nd forced the Georgian President to sign a cease fire with Russia. In return, Russia agreed to pull its soldiers out of Georgian territory, only they aren't.

Basically Putin is saying "Fugg You" to Georgia and the U.S.

Russia's goal is to topple the Georgian government, and test America's military prowess.

So, basically, Russia invaded the country of Georgia - a U.S. ally - to see what the U.S. would do. In fact, a Russian General said, "If America can invade and take Baghdad, we can take Tiblisi (the capitol of Georgia)."

Russia is calling our bluff.

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In the game, the revolver's cylinder can either be spun again to reset the game conditions, or the trigger can be pulled again. Using revolvers with fewer chambers (typically five) or increasing the number of rounds are other variations that increase the risk.

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The names and conditions may change, but once again America is playing a game of Russian Roulette.

Hopefully George W. Bush won't overplay America's hand any more than he already has.

If he does, we might all want to consider moving to, ehrrr, Russia.