So Very Very Georgian

It seems as if the Georgian elections are wrapped up. there have been some allegations of fraud as there always are. But in general it seems as if Saakashvili's narrow election victory is legit.

Actually his margin of victory was not narrow. His closest rival Levan Chachechelidze got 27% to Saakashvili's 53%. But in the Georgian system, if no one gets over 50% - the top two contenders go into a run off.

Kid Various is happy that our friends the Georgians (or kartvelebi in their language) have managed a round of real democratic action when power was at stake. The Kid has always believed Georgia has at least a shot a becoming a real western, Enlightenment culture.

Plus, fried sulguni cheese is their national food. How can you not love a people like that?

But what disturbed Kid Various about the Georgian elections is this:

Rep. Alcee Hastings, a Florida Democrat heading the OSCE mission, said it was unfair to be too critical of the election, describing it as only a step on Georgia's road to democracy.

"These people are just 16 years away from a level of repression that most Western countries theorize about and they lived," he said by telephone early Monday. "They didn't have a perfect election. They took a step."

[KYLE'S MOM] WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?!

is the leader of the OSCE observation mission? Alcee Hastings? A member of congress precisely because he got thrown out of his old job as a federal judge for corruption and perjury? Oh man, that's sad. And strangely, so very, very Georgian.