Cold War Part Deux

It seemed like old times when I saw Rice and Lavrov (her Russian counterpart) in this photo. The Bush administration has been legendarily unsuccessful in its diplomatic efforts throughout the last 7 years. The rift with Russia over the planned European missile defense system is a microcosm of the problems of the Bush administration thanks to its propensity for unilateral action and its inability to build coalitions.

Now we see an administration that cannot make any progress on the diplomatic front. Putin is clowning Rice with his comments and the world is taking note. And despite Putin's objection to the missile defense system, and despite the fact a majority of Czechs don't want the Radar based here, the administration is bulling ahead with its plans as it always does.

So we can expect to see more of the same for the foreseeable future: A crippled state department unable to make any progress anywhere.

Honestly, it is getting embarrassing. But there is a simple solution, one that the Bush administration should understand.

Democracy. Let the people decide. If democracy is good enough for the Iraqis, surely it must be good enough for the Czechs and the Poles.

Or is it?