Live from St. Petersburg

By now, pretty much everyone across the world is at least familiar with the "accidental" exchange between GDub and Tony Blair concerning the conflict in Lebanon. And by now, many have established their own interpretations of what happened. Given that the President, when he learned of the mistake, apparently "rolled his eyes and laughed" when shown a transcript of his own words, it seems almost impossible to continue to hope that there will actually be any strong resolution proposed by Washington.

Plain and simple, even if it was truly an accident that the microphone was live, this is another example of the cowboy diplomacy that Bush has engaged in throughout his Presidency, and appears ready to continue following through with. He is the type of leader who feels that he can bully people into doing what he wants, and, like most bullies, he is unable to see his own failings with regards to his goals. Cowboy diplomacy launched the war with Iraq, and now it appears set to cause the conflict to spill out even further into the Middle East. GDub believes that by simply flexing his muscles, he can get Syria and other ME nations to weigh in on stopping this conflict, when all it tends to do is stir the pot more.

What our Cowboy fails to truly realize is that he is stepping into a ghost town, and the rival gang, while not holding the strength in either numbers or dedication, does hold the power of conviction. Bush is a lame duck President, who almost seems driven to push the global perception of the United States into never-before-seen lows, leaving a mess behind for whoever is unlucky enough to take the office in 2008. Without strong and thought-out leadership, America will continue to flounder in the political morass, while conflicts will keep pounding on our doors.

We have a spoiled child as a President, and, before too long, he's going to just get bored, pick up his toys, and walk away.