War is a funny thing – it has the ability to attract such a wide variety of commentators with no connection whatsoever to the region, suddenly presenting themselves as knowledgeable authorities on the subject. That is certainly the case in the United States right now, as everyone from the blowhard armchair strategists to the intolerably bombastic talk show radio hosts, offer up anything and everything they think might stick about the Russian-Georgian war. I am not in the United States at the moment, but this is certainly the sensation I am getting as I review the press online, and speak with friends and colleagues, and hear some shocking questions and reactions – leading me to believe that there is a significant distortion effect going on and no shortage of emotional hysteria caused by the images of Russian tanks in a foreign land. I think we can blame a lot of this on electoral partisanship. UPDATE: This article contains even more recent tit-for-tat candidate exchanges on the issue.