Thank you Claudia for being so brave and so right.
I think you are brave because you have the courage to stand up to all this dirt thrown at you by these in-style liberals who don’t know what they are talking about. I am amazed by the hatred that I see in their comments here. Where does all these come from? Who made these people so rude? Aren’t they the ones who are the liberals and support eloquent speeches and “resets” by being nice? Are not we – the realists, according to them, supposed to be the always rude and hateful?
I think you are right, because I am from the country of Georgia, for those liberals out there, that is the tiny country that today is occupied by Russia and divided into three. My hometown – Tbilisi – was being bombed by Russian air force less than a year ago. My friends died in fight to stop the powerful invaders that outnumbered and outgunned us. I could not stop my daughter crying shocked by fear when Russian bombers raided over our house in the middle of the night. She could hear not only the terrifying sound of the jet engines, but also the explosion of bombs from here and there. And the only reason these was happening was because Russia does not like the idea that Georgian people want to be independent, just because Putin wants to restore the Soviet Union.
I want to say to those who hate Claudia so much, you like liberalism and guess what – we love it too. We had thriving economy for the last few years, with annual growth of 10-12 percent. For its liberal reforms, Georgia was named the world’s number 1 economic reformer by the World Bank. We were building economy so liberal that in the easiness of doing business my country came at number 15th by International Financial Organization’s global ranking (and it’s after we were at 137th only 4 years ago). Today my country’s economy is near dead thanks to Russia’s imperial ambitions. Yes, in the 21st century.
Guess what, we hate wars not only because we think it’s the result of “outdated thinking”, but because its killing us.
We hate military alliances of any sort, but we dream of joining NATO… not because we like playing tough, but because its our only way to survive Russia.
We, the Georgians are very creative people, we have amazing folk songs and dances, are very hospitable and love to dream of the illusionary perfect world. However it is so unfortunate that we have to live in the real world and believe me it’s a very tough place to live.
I love hearing beautiful words spoken by political leaders and admire great speechmakers. President Obama is certainly the one. He is awesome to watch and listen. I would not ask for a better president in a perfect world. But the problem is that the world is yet very far away from being perfect. Unfortunately it’s far away from being in a condition where nice words could change the course. And it’s certainly far away from being liberal.
I don’t ask for the United States to be the guardian of the world order, I don’t expect that my country, or any other, should be saved or protected by the US. I simply cannot ask for such a favor. It’s the decision of the American people that have my utmost respect and love. Its up to you to decide to what extent you want to stand up against the injustices that are happening around our mother Earth. We can only be grateful.
But please, please don’t get so angry if sometimes the “resets” of your liberal euphoria bring ironic but sad smile on our faces, on the faces of those who live in the real world. Believe me the irony comes not from us who are the victims, the first place it comes from those who are being addressed and called for reset.
And don’t be angry if someone dears to describe this world the way it really is. Instead of being angry, try to think bout it more. Try to put yourselves in the others shoes.
Get real, or face the irony.