“We Will Not Cede Any Region!”

Some amusing commentary from Al Kamen on the McCain-Palin campaign’s accidental solicitation for donations from the Russian Mission to the United Nations.

The Russians released a copy of a Sept. 29 solicitation addressed to Vitaly I. Churkin, urging him to contribute as much as $5,000 to “stop the Obama Democrats from seizing control of the entire federal government.” “Please know this — we will not concede any region to the Democrats,” the letter stated. That might have resonated with Churkin, who doubtless started thinking about South Ossetia, Chechnya and such. But when McCain then criticized Obama for recklessly supporting an “unconditional timeline” for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, a position that Churkin supports, you could see the checkbook going back into his pocket. And McCain’s warnings about Obama’s “big-government solution to health care” or increasing the size of the federal government or big tax increases probably left the Russian only scratching his head. But Churkin, like everyone else, might have been sympathetic to McCain’s complaint about the “vicious attacks” from “the Democrats and their liberal special interest allies.” Clearly something that would not be permitted in Russia.