Ukraine: second thoughts

Like most amateur followers of the Ukrainian election dispute, we had assumed that the side that was able to mobilise the better looking protestors was surely the right side to support. Even their preferred colour, orange, was not enough to dissuade us. But having watched Fox News this evening, we're not so sure. For there we learned that Washington's most famous toe-sucker and weasel extraordinaire, Dick Morris, has been advising the Yushchenko campaign. Where do we sign up to support our friends on the other side of the Great Schism?

UPDATE: Dec 17th. More second thoughts -- an opinion piece from the Wall Street Journal op-ed page by Adrian Karatnycky, a scholar at Freedom House, while noting some of the religious dimensions of the election dispute (and doing an awful job of explaining them), feels compelled to include a pleasing reference to Dubya:

Mr. Yushchenko, who typically ends his speeches with "Glory to Ukraine, Glory to the Ukrainian People, and Glory to the Lord, Our God," is a devout Orthodox Christian from northeastern Ukraine who regularly takes confession and communion. His faith is reinforced by his American-born wife, Katya Chumachenko, who last week told the Chicago Tribune: "We're strong believers in God, and we strongly believe that God has a place for each one of us in this world, and that he has put us in this place for a reason." Such sentiments echo the way that President Bush has spoken of his own faith. And like Mr. Bush, Mr. Yushchenko is careful to sound an ecumenical tone in his public remarks.

This equivalence makes us suspicious.