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Barack and Vlad
Barack Obama will lose the election if independent voters see him as part of the vast far-left conspiracy which, in today's dangerous world, has become a symbol of appeasement and anti-American attitudes.

If Barack Obama somehow loses the presidential race, he might partially blame Vlad "the Assailer" Putin. Since Russia invaded Georgia last week, the world's attention has been focused on NATO's response to the brutality. On balance, the response has been tepid, to say the least. President Bush says Russia better get out.

Or what?

Senator Obama is calling for "restraint by both sides." Swell. Asking Putin to restrain his violent tactics is like asking al-Qaeda to celebrate Christmas—not gonna happen.

The Russian action is a reminder to all that we live in a dangerous world where just about anything can happen at any time. And, in America, the reaction from the far left, which enthusiastically supports Obama, is also a stark wake up call.

The liberal base is basically putting forth two sets of talking points on the Georgia situation. The first was articulated by New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd:

"The Bushies can hardly tell Russia to stop doing what they themselves did in Iraq: unilaterally invade a country against the will of the world to scare the bejesus out of some leaders in the region they didn't like."

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Bill returns to The Factor on Monday, August 25!
Don't miss our special coverage of the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado starting on Monday. We'll be covering the convention and talking to the experts about all the political goings-on in the Mile-High City!

Be sure to check out this week's Stratfor.com Intelligence Briefing entitled "The Real World Order," written by Stratfor.com analyst and frequent Factor guest George Friedman. Don't forget that each and every Tuesday, Stratfor.com posts a brand new Intelligence Briefing right on BillOReilly.com, absolutely free of charge. Check out the archive!

Frequent O'Reilly Factor fill-in E.D. Hill is pleased to announce her new book I'm Not Your Friend, I'm Your Parent hits stores on September 2! Visit HillFriends.com to find out more about the book and to pre-order an autographed copy.

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