Reply #15: I agree, the White House response has been pretty tepid [View All]

[daleo]

The media has also been pretty half-hearted in its objections to the Ukraine election, at least what I have read. An article today (in my local paper) mentioned a bus load of opposition supporters who lived 300 miles from Kiev, but tried to vote there because they were tourists. They claimed that being told to vote in their hometown was election fraud.

This example of election fraud seemed so preposterous, it made me think that it was just an empty gesture, and that perhaps Bush had agreed not to seriously contest the way the election went, like he had done a quid pro quo with Putin. Of course any Bush protestations would be wildly hypocritical (e.g. basing them on exit poll results), but that has never stopped him in the past.