By Matthew Palcher, Kansas City Star Editorial Board Reader Advisory panel 2008
It is deja vu all over again for the citizens of the Caucasus. Sights of tanks trekking down the streets of Georgia had to rekindle painful memories of Soviet expansion and imperialist ambition. The world has witnessed similar events this past century: Moscow in 1917, Warsaw in 1939, and more recently, Kuwait City in 1990.
Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial board
Have ever two deaths been more examined than those of Diana, Princess of Wales, and her companion, Dodi al-Fayed?
In addition to dealing with the war in Iraq and the threat posed by Al Qaeda, the next president will face spies and groups reminiscent of Hitler's Brown Shirts (the Sturmabteilung.)
The Los Angeles Times reports right wing nationalism is on the rise in Hungary and other eastern European nations including Bulgaria, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. The freedom that followed the collapse of communism, and then expanded with EU membership, has also unveiled a dark strain of anti-Semitism, prejudice and anti-immigrant sentiment that is being channeled by a new crop of small but noisy extremist groups. They are able to capitalize on disillusion among some segments of the population who feel bypassed by free-market reforms and globalization.
