From the New York Times editorial:
President Bush spent years looking the other way while Mr. Putin harassed opponents, stifled a free press and bullied his neighbors. (A new report that suggests that Georgia had no reason to send troops into a breakaway enclave is disturbing, but not surprising, and still doesn’t justify Moscow’s brutal invasion.) While he was busy looking into Mr. Putin’s eyes, Mr. Bush also ignored Russia’s list of grievances — many of them illegitimate, but not all. Mr. Medvedev and Mr. Putin now seem determined to push their way to the top of Mr. Obama’s very crowded agenda. We suspect that they will get a more receptive hearing if they stop trying to bully their own people — and everyone else.