Gary,

Don't use one data point to generalize about eastern Europe.

Most of the countries you mention should name streets after Shrub's dad, not W. Freedom came in 1991.

Shrub was largely disengaged with developments in eastern Europe during his time in office. There was little or no granular foreign policy in the Shrub Administaation around this part of the world.

Boomer,

First, Merry Christmas.

A good case study would probably be Georgia. The presidient of that country is fully supportive of GWB, and vice versa. Bush did not hesitiate to support Georgia, when it was invaded by Russia. The same cannot be said of Obama, who looked like a deer in the headlights, until he got his script from his handlers (empty suit syndrome).

Eastern Europe was liberated from the Soviet Union, due to the pressure from Ronald Reagan. GHWB basically inherited the mantle, although he was supportive. However, liberation and independence are not exactly the same thing. GWB is being honored for supporting true independence, symbolically represented by the placement of defensive missles, for example...Putin understands the gester, and he is fighting back.

Old Europe does not support an expansive and free New Europe, for example making them part of NATO, then truly supporting them. GWB does. History, IMO, will vindicate GWB. I think you can expect many more streets and plazas being named after GWB in New Europe. Old Europe will just spit at his memory.

So what's Georgia naming for Bush? South Bushsettia, maybe?

"New Europe" loves Bush. In America, polls place Bush #1 on the worst President ever list. If Bush moves to "New Europe", then everyone will be happy.

Paul,

They already named a street for him:

"a main road leading to Tbilisi airport was named after him, and decorated with a billboard poster of the US president smiling and waving."

Web Link

Gary, the Bush haters are like the Reagan haters..they will never be able to concede the force for freedom that Bush was. Nor will they ever acknowledge how Carter, Clinton and we'll see about Obama undermined freedom everyhwere and our security at home.

Wasn't it Clinton who sent American troops to save Kosovo, despite Republican protests that we should let them die?

Interesting choice of words on this ... New Europe versus Old Europe ... again Old Europe is getting dumped on so to speak. If you know where the term came from it was first used by Hitler and the Nazis to denigrate France, Britain, etc .... the Allies in WWII before he decided to attack them.

Forgive me if I am skeptical of the countries in Eastern Europe for a while, I am glad they are free, but let's give it a bit more time before we go putting them ahead of long time and staunch allies.

"They [Georgians] already named a street for him [Bush]: 'a main road leading to Tbilisi airport was named after him, and decorated with a billboard poster of the US president smiling and waving.'"

This is the country that still maintains a shrine at Stalin's birthplace, right?

Well, Bush bought the honorific with the billions in military hardware he gave Georgia, which the Russians gleefully shot up last August while Bush just watched. So much for our taxpayer dollars. But have you checked lately if Bush's name is still actually on the street signs?

They seem to have wasted their sign paint anyway. Bush considers his greatest accomplishment catching a 7 1/2 pound perch in his private fish pond [Web Link Nobody knows how far down in the Bush list this road might rank.

Paul,

Yes, Georgia, the birth place of Stalin, still has some sympathy for him, although it more about the ethnic Russians, in Gori, and their Stalin apologists...along with some nostaliga among the Georgian youth for a strong nationalist leader. Stalin apologists, and supporters (in name and/or kind) can still be found on American university campuses. Uncle Joe was worse than Uncle Adolph, in terms of mass murder, but Joe gets a pass, because he was a communist.

As I recall, Paul, FDR sent a whole lot of military hardware to Britain in WWII, before we entered the war, only to see it blown up. Your point?

Bruce,

Old Europe had its acid test in the Yugoslovia breakup. It failed. It is hard to imagine a more perfect opporunity for Old Europe to accept war casualties, in the name of a wider self interest, yet it refused. The Dutch troops at Srebrenica are symbolic of a pathetic and weak Old Europe. I think the New Europe will fight, if given the means.

"Your point?"

Simple and direct: Georgia seems rather hard up for heroes.