At Home In The Wasteland » Saakashvili ‘04?

Saakashvili ‘04?

Looks like Saakashvili is running for President…and he’ll probably be elected. He seems like a pretty cool guy because he’s dedicated his political career to rooting out the corruption that has infected the Georgian government.
From the Post:
Should Saakashvili win, it would make him the most Americanized national leader ever seen in the former Soviet Union outside the Baltic states. Aside from his studies at George Washington, Saakashvili also earned a degree at Columbia Law School and fondly recalls wandering around Capitol Hill and cheering on the New York Knicks. Hanging on his office wall is his Edmund S. Muskie fellowship certificate and a picture of him with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).
“I was really raised on American democracy, not only my studies but much more,” he said. “JFK is my political idol.” In modern terms, he patterns himself after another American politician. “For me, the closest thing in terms of political orientation is John McCain. We’re very close.”
Saakashvili’s flamboyant streak disturbs his critics, who call him a radical, a demagogue or even mentally unbalanced. “If he becomes president, it will be an economic and political disaster for Georgia. Saakashvili is not very sane,” said Irina Sarishvili-Chanturia, a Shevardnadze ally elected to Parliament in the discredited Nov. 2 elections that sparked the street protests. “He’s absolutely uncontrolled. . . . He’s really dangerous.”
Guess we’ll find out what happens in January…
Zhirinovsky got into another fight (surprise, surprise!):
It was unclear who threw the first blow, but “in the ensuing brawl, deputies Zhirinovsky and Mitrokhin punched each other in the face. Also fighting were economist Delyagin and Shpak,” Kommersant reported.
After the latest incident, liberal Union of Right Forces party leader Boris Nemtsov and Mitrokhin are calling for Zhirinovsky to be banned from participating in future debates.
Ah, looks like Nemtsov is still pissed that Zhirinovsky threw that glass of orange juice at him a few years ago. A lot more Americans would watch the Dem debates if we had a crazy guy like Zhirinovsky hurling insults and throwing juice…but Clark would put him in his place, of course.
Quota on foreign visitors allowed into Russia halved for 2004…that makes no sense at all, but whatever. Doesn’t affect tourist or business visas, but not sure about student visas.
I was browsing the Department of Commerce’s buyusa.gov site for Russia (needed more info for my research paper) and noticed the text at the bottom that said “Hot offer from company CKE Restaurants, Inc.”…hmmm….CKE…sounds familiar…ah yes, Carl’s Jr! So it looks like Carl’s Jr. wants to sell some Western Bacon Cheeseburgers to the Russians…interesting. Wow, we don’t even have a Carl’s Jr. in DC…not that I really miss it…I’d rather get an In-N-Out in DC.