Uninformed Opinions

Dear Washington Post,

Please calm the fuck down!

Really, I realize you had a massive crush on Saakashvili, but hes going to be alright I promise. No black clad thugs wielding AK-47s are going to burst into the presidential palace anytime soon.

Now that's out of the way we can talk about the content of the article. The article talks about the 20 odd opposition political leaders that the recently installed government in Tbilisi have arrested since taking power. And my do the editors get the vapors from that,

As long as he is imprisoning opposition leaders and seeking to monopolize power, Georgia’s new leader should not be welcome in Washington.

 The problem is that many of these ministers and opposition leaders probably are guilty of crime and electoral fraud. Prior to the election Georgian Dream (the new governing party) asserted on several occasions that their offices were being spied on and their phones tapped. I do believe we had a president resign in similar circumstances. Additionally many of these arrests were based on the recent prison abuse scandal that most likely toppled President Saakashvili's party from power. Finally these are just arrests, its not like they were summarily executed or given show trials. In the coming weeks we will see if the Georgian judiciary, all of which was appointed by Saakashvili, is willing to convict their former coworkers. My guess is we'll have a few high profile convictions to assuage Georgian Dream and the public, and a bunch of acquittals.

But this is likely to be unpersuasive to the editors of WaPo, at least until they get ride of their rose tinted goggles about Saakashvili,

Mr. Saakashvili and his team have given Georgia an extraordinary boost toward joining the Western democracies — modernizing the economy, greatly reducing corruption and attracting billions in foreign investment. Now they have held a truly competitive election and agreed to peacefully hand over power to the winners. Mr. Ivanishvili was able to exploit popular frustration with government failings — including torture in the prison system and high unemployment. But Mr. Saakashvili has left a democratic legacy; the United States and European Union should insist that the new regime sustain and build on it.

Seriously WaPo he's never going to return your calls. Get over it.