Given how much we’ve blogged about Russia’s most highly paid lobbyist, the rent-a-chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, it should come as no surprise that he has been one of the most vocal defenders of the Russian invasion of Georgia (though I do wonder if Gazprom’s brand new hire of the former prime minister of Finland will be put to work soon). What is frustrating about this is that the Russians have an important position that needs to be expressed, one that I am not without sympathy for, given the disproportionately aggressive demonizing of the country in the American press. Although carelessly executed with zero subtlety or diplomacy and unfortunate violence (and perhaps with the aim of creating a useful enmity for greater domestic powers), what Russia is pursuing in the Caucasus is squarely within their national interests – and that’s what countries do when they have power, pursue interests. But the Kremlin has failed to argue this position with any conviction, and in fact appears to doubt its own legitimacy. And that’s where Schroeder steps into the mix, ruining whatever chance Moscow had to win over the swing opinion. Like one of those radically annoying liberal grassroots groups, Schroeder excels in the unique of art of repelling even those who agree with him. His stumping of the war is clearly exacerbating the deep, deep rift in the German government (which of course paralyzes the united international response to Russia’s action) and puts the credibility of the SPD and Frank-Walter Steinmeier into troubled waters. So far, the reactions to Schroeder’s intervention on the invasion issue have been quite sharp: