An aggressively negative article from McClatchy argues that Sen. John McCain’s proposal to remove Russia from the G8 won’t get very far in reality. OK, fine, but I’m not convinced of the wisdom behind the reasoning – there’s no need to tip-toe around Russia for fear of returning to “Cold War” tensions – let’s avoid that heap of memes.

The Group of Eight, or G-8, as it’s popularly known, makes decisions by consensus, so no single nation can kick out another. Most experts say the six other countries — Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Japan and Canada — would never agree to toss Russia, given their close economic ties to their neighbor. A senior U.S. official who deals with Russia policy said that even Moscow would have to approve of its own ouster, given how the G-8 works. “It’s not even a theoretical discussion. It’s an impossible discussion,” said the senior official, who requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. “It’s just a dumb thing.”