About right

Galloway:

Bush and Cheney seven and a half years ago inherited control of the world's only reigning superpower, and in that short time they've squandered our military power, our international good name and our national treasury.

The only sadder sight in a week full of sad sights was a John McCain op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal with the headline: "We Are All Georgians."

There's no "Candidate Privilege" so I think it's important that we know when McCain started talking to Saakashvili every day. And what exactly did Randy Scheunemann tell him to say?

When was the last time a Presidential managed not only screwed up a foreign crisis or made it worse, but may have been involved in actually starting one?

Meanwhile, a poignant statement from Olga Ivanova, a Russian graduate student in the United States:

Over the past week, American media have achieved one thing for sure: They have lost prestige among a generation of young Russians who believed that America is a country of true, uncorrupted, independent information. Many Russian youths come to the United States for college and then go back to Russia to help build our own democracy. Russians believe in democracy. But I don't know whether many Russians will ever trust American media reports again.

U.S. newspapers have lost esteem among Russian journalists as well. These reporters have long looked to American newspapers as icons of quality journalism. They are supposed to stand for truth and serve the people's interests. But whose interests did newspapers serve by publishing stories in the best traditions of the Cold War?

I think that both the Russian and Georgian governments attacked civilians. I blame the governments for this war. But I am also saddened by the unfair coverage of the conflict from Russian and American media. If this is what freedom of the press looks like, then I no longer want to believe in this freedom. I prefer to stay neutral and independent, just like a professional journalist has to do.

Rupert Murdoch and Fred Hiatt happens.