Thom Hartmann was mentioning last week that Russian newspapers are speculating that the invasion of South Ossetia by Georgia was done in order to boost John McCain’s chances in November. John McCain had lobbyists for Georgia working on his campaign until just this past March.

Karl Rove has been working with the McCain camp since about July. Ever since the McCain camp has adopted a more Rovian style approach to politics. Exploiting war for political advantage is a hallmark of Karl Rove campaigning.

The speculation is that while the Administration would like to attack Iran there is sufficient resistance in the U.S. and world community to such a move. Thus, Rove began looking at the globe, flipping through his rolodex, and reviewing his political connections abroad trying to determine where he could start a military conflict. The very basic thinking is that McCain = War Hero, War = McCain Presidency. Any war is perceived by the Republican Party to benefit John McCain.

While we have all been focused on Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran the Bush Administration has been constantly poking Russia primarily with the proposed Eastern European missile defense shield. Also, BushCo has been actively trying to recruit former Soviet states into NATO in addition to getting them to enter into other agreements with Western European countries. This has irritated Russia.

What’s still not clear is who called who and who told who what. Some how Saakashvili got the impression from people in the U.S. that if Georgia invaded South Ossetia, they would get the backing of the U.S. military. Of course that didn’t happen but we did get Russia thoroughly pissed off, a military conflict of politically sufficient size, and a great big push toward World War 3 involving Russia.

This is all thought to benefit McCain who will then puff his chest up and talk about his military experience. Most of you will think it a crazy notion that the U.S. government dominated by Loyal Bushies would act in such a way as to endanger all our lives merely for the political benefit of a fellow Republican. But to you I say just look how the Bush Cheney regime has acted historically.

As soon as Bush Cheney took office they began planning the invasion of Iraq 6 months prior to 9/11. They began their domestic spying 6 months before 9/11. Their whole thought was how to get the U.S. involved in a war. They did this because they knew Americans rarely if ever “change horses in mid-stride”. That is to say, if there was a war during Bush’s first term, the American People would likely keep him in office since he would be a “War Time President”.

This is what the Republicans parroted all through 2004 “Bush is a War Time President” and “You can’t change horses in mid-stride”. Everything they did was aimed at getting Bush re-elected in 2004. Their whole motive was to maintain power.

So why should now be any different? Is it really that far fetched to think the Bush Cheney regime would help boost McCain’s campaign with a military conflict? Bush Cheney see in McCain a puppet who they can control remotely. Having McCain as President is the same as having Bush Cheney running things.

The question that remains to be seen is if the American People will fall for it. Will they say “gee we need a military man as President since we are at war”. Keep in mind they voted against John Kerry (a military man) in favor of a draft dodger (Bush) in a time of war. McCain is the right kind of military man for them, someone who to this day supports the Vietnam War and thinks the U.S. could have won if we only had more resolve. If only those damn dirty fucking hippies with their rock music didn’t mess it all up.

By shifting the conflict away from the Middle East and instead making it with Russia it makes Americans more susceptible to their propaganda. Americans have 50 years of inbred hatred of the Russians. We’ve had Red Scares and been on the brink of nuclear war with Russia for pretty much everyone’s current lifetime. The Georgian conflict has ignited that hatred as simply as flipping a switch. No one’s thinking about the consequences except that we can’t let the damn Ruskies get away with it.

Just remember this time around Bush Cheney are picking on a country that has an air force, navy, nuclear subs, and lest I forget to mention thousands of nuclear warheads aimed at the United States. It’s one thing to bully Iraq, Afghanistan, and even Iran. It’s quite another to try to bully Russia.

You also have to ask yourself do Bush Cheney really care about you? Do you think they are concerned about losing a few million American lives if it means maintaining power? Look how they have treated Iraq, Afghanistan, Hurricane Katrina, and now this current conflict. They wait for significant loss of life and damage to property before acting. What we see as death and chaos they see as lucrative rebuilding contracts for Halliburton and security jobs for BlackWater USA.