The situation in Georgia is deteriorating rapidly. For those of you who have had your heads shoved up your asses, here’s a recap and some history from Redbstrd. Georgia has been a tinderbox for years and the last thing one needs during a tinderbox situation is the simplistic, one note diplomacy of George Bush and company. He fucked the pooch on this one, plain and simple.

Historically, this is a very fucked up situation.Think Israel and Palestine. Georgia has been opposed to their aggressive Russian neighbors for centuries. And two regions inside Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, are opposed to aggressive Georgia rule. In the end, the regions don’t want to be a part of Georgia, so they looked to Russia for help. Georgia invaded the capital of South Ossetia this week and Russia responded by invading, too. The conflict has now spread to Abkhazia and beyond. That’s the incredibly simplistic summary of a conflict that has been going on since the late 1700s. You want more, read this. Oh, and don’t forget about the oil. Seems every conflict in the world includes oil as part of the equation.

We should be concerned about what our part in this mess is and how to make sure we don’t do more damage.

The Bush administration encouraged Georgia president Mikheil Saakashvili to apply for NATO membership. This really couldn’t have been a more ignorant stance to take. During a time of increasing nationalism in Russia, that reminds some of past fascist rulers, encouraging a Russian border country, with a history of conflicts, to join NATO is completely moronic. Oh, and Russia said they would not allow it.

No, shit. Anyone who had bothered to read any history of the region would have known that, but we are talking about a president who didn’t know the difference between Shiites and Sunnis when he invaded Iraq. Nuance and intelligence are the enemies of George Bush.

Bush has been giving weapons and training to Georgia for several years, while he pushed for the country’s entry into NATO. Europe said, “No thanks,” because they are not fucking morons. They knew if Georgia was allowed into NATO, it would mean war with Russia, which is exactly where we would be now if our retarded president had his way. We would be at war with Russia, obligated by NATO treaties to send troops to defend Georgia. Sound good? That’s how stupid Bush and his people are.

Now, throw in the fact that the U.S. has invaded two countries in the past seven years, and we actually don’t have the ability to take a stance against an aggressive Russia. Bush invaded Iraq by using false intelligence, lying to the UN and the American people. It’s kind of hard for a guy who killed someone, standing with blood all over his hands, to call someone else a murderer, without everyone looking at him funny. Also, any military or other support we could have given Georgia is being used in two wars. And Russia knows that.

But, it’s not like some in the Bush administration aren’t calling for the U.S. to jump into this fight. Colossal dipshit and the greatest threat to America since the Japanese, Vice President Dick Cheney, would like us to get in this fucker.

Oh, good. Call up the president of Georgia and act like you are president of the United States, dick. What a completely insane promise to make. What the fuck does "not go unanswered" mean? Judging by past Bush administration responses, that ain't good. But then, these are the same neo-con idiots who have wreaked havoc on the world, so it can’t be a big surprise.

Okay. Line crossed. What do you propose, genius? The people of Georgia are expecting our support because of this EXACT TYPE OF LANGUAGE over the years.

Not coming. Not actually your friends.

It's not and we're in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sorry about that. How about a mint?

It's called being on the other end of Bush foreign policy. Kind of a bummer, huh?

Smell that? It’s smells familiar, kind of like the Shiites rising up against Saddam Hussein under the first President George Bush, after he encouraged them to fight, after he insinuated they would be aided in their battle, after he stupidly made public statements he should not have made. They were slaughtered, just as the Georgians are being slaughtered today.

Bush I basically told the Shiites we had their back and they were slaughtered, while our soldiers were forced to watch, unable to engage. Now Bush II has done the same with Georgia and the result is not surprising.

John McCain, of course, wants to make the situation worse. Old School believes the situation escalated because NATO didn’t vote Georgia into the organization. Uh, yeah. That would be true, I guess, in a world where Russia didn’t say the exact opposite.

Hey, World War III! How you been? John McCain actually wants us to do the exact opposite of what should be done. Just to summarize, he wants NATO to vote for a war with Russia. Because, you know, that’s what happens when you bring a country into NATO who is at war with Russia. Johnny wants to play “bluff” with Russia and hope they would back down. You know, the Russia that is going through a bout of insane nationalism and knows the U.S. is incredibly weak militarily. Hey, draft age guys, you up for it, or what?

Oh, and please don’t pay attention to the fact that McCain's top foreign policy advisor was a lobbyist for...Georgia.

It’s interesting. A McCain win could mean World War III, but any destabilization in the world only helps McCain because of his military background. It’s weird, but somebody predicted a more unstable world as part of his future election breakdown. And hey, he also predicted the surge would be a success! Who would have thought with all that paying off of the enemy and whatnot….

FearTheReaper is a writer, actor and stand up comic. You can read more of his blathering on his blog, Stop All Monsters.

Those of you following the Genarlow Wilson case in Georgia over the past two years know the general gist of this shocking story. For those that haven’t, here’s a quick refresher:

After his conviction, Wilson’s attorneys spent the next two and a half years trying to secure his release. They used legal channels (which were thwarted each time by Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, whose single-minded determination to keep Wilson in prison has made him seem like a tremendous asshole), but also made appeals to the legislature and the press on behalf of their client. The press picked it up and ran with it. Because Wilson was a promising prep athlete and the story seemed so sensational, ESPN.com even did an lengthy piece on it. Presidential candidates and political pundits made statements in support of Wilson’s cause.

The good news for Wilson is that all of that attention has finally paid off.

Wilson’s release has been hailed as a long overdue triumph of justice and humanity.

Everyone’s happy now, right? Even Tightassed A.G. Baker said he would respect the decision of the court and hoped it would put the issue to rest. We can move on, and Wilson can pursue his dream of a college education. Huzzah!

In the immortal words of Lee Corso: Not so fast, my friend. Judicial “Conservatives” and “strict constructionists” (which is a fancy name for people who think the Constitution is not a living document and should be interpreted only by its meaning in 1789) are pretty pissed off. Not because they necessarily want Wilson to rot in jail for his youthful transgression, but because they’d rather the court system not do their jobs.

Let me explain: In April of 2006, largely in response to the negative press that the state had generated for their draconian laws and how they affected Wilson, the Georgia state legislature amended their child molestation law to insert a “Romeo and Juliet” provision. The provision made an exception where if the “assailant” was less than four years older than the “victim” and the sex was consensual, the crime would be treated as a misdemeanor rather than a felony. But when they enacted the law, they specifically declined to make the law apply retroactively. In other words, all future 17-year-olds who get hummers from 15-year-olds aren’t going to see jail time, but Wilson is shit out of luck because he blew his wad before the legislature blew theirs.

So, how did the Georgia Supreme Court manage to free Wilson last Friday? According to some commentators, they engaged in *gasp* judicial activism! The horror!

Oooh, heady stuff from the Editorial Board at the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The law says this and therefore that. Simple, right?

As with most everything else that judicial conservatives and “strict constructionists” rant about, they’re wrong here as well. Let’s actually read the opinion of the Georgia Supreme Court, shall we? Did they overturn Wilson’s appeal on the basis of the Georgia legislature’s new law? No, they didn’t. Rather, they overturned it because it was cruel and unusual and a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s 8th Amendment. In making that determination, they looked to the reasons why the Legislature made the change, not the text of the change itself.

In other words, whether a sentence violates the 8th Amendment is an entirely separate question than whether the sentence should be applied retroactively. That question can be informed by the actions of the legislature, but it is (by its very nature) a question for the Courts and the Courts alone to decide.

The guys at the AJC are none too pleased at that, either.

Well, there’s a ton of relevance to the question of what other jurisdictions do in this situation, of course. The words “cruel” and “unusual” are intentionally vague. When they were inserted into the Constitution it was intended that judges would consider them through the lens of current societal standards. It’s impossible to truly determine what those societal standards are without looking at the rest of the fucking society. It’s not rocket science here, people.

In short, this case and the reaction to it by judicial conservatives demonstrate how blindingly wrong the strict constructionist movement is. The law is supposed to have a human element to it. There is supposed to be some room to maneuver within constitutional boundaries. The Georgia Supreme Court understands this. It’s a shame not everyone does.

Georgia State Senator Jeff Mullis has decided we should celebrate the greatness of the Confederacy by giving it an entire month. Mullis wrote a bill that would make April Confederate History and Heritage Month. The bill was passed with a unanimous vote in the Senate Rules Committee and will be sent to the full Senate for a vote.

When I think of the Confederacy, I often ponder with a smile the diversity of the Southern Independence movement. There were so many “ethnic groups” who were owned by white people and it should be celebrated.

The bill comes on the heels of an announcement by black members of Congress that they would ask the state to apologize for slavery. But the Republican leaders of the House and Senate are strongly against apologizing for slavery. Mullis is adamant that his bill was not a response to the slavery apology announcement. It’s just a coincidence!

You go, girl!

Georgia lawmakers plan to introduce a plethora of “celebration months.” June will be Rape Celebration Month. July henceforth will honor the positive achievements of the Nazis. August will be Give Props to the Plague Month. September is Henry Lee Lucas Victory Month. October is just going to get straight to the point and will be called, Slavery Rocks Month! November will celebrate the positive aspects of Hurricane Katrina and December will be Florida Month.

Say what you will about the cold war and the ever-present threat of nuclear annihilation that it represented - at least it was fairly obvious where the threat was coming from. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the downfall of its internal security apparatus also came huge lapses in the ability to safeguard its nuclear weapons stockpiles. With numerous countries looking to develop their own nuclear arsenals and a newfound capitalist spirit being embraced in former Soviet republics, we can all celebrate the creation of a new market for weapons grade uranium, where buyers can easily purchase, rather than having to develop, the key ingredient to make their very own nuclear bombs.

And the Bush administration is mostly concerned about uranium enrichment in Iran? This is the real deal, and chances are that if someone was caught selling it that there are others who haven't been caught yet.