i agree expanding t g7 to the g8 now a mistake, and you have to deal with russia and they are out there in syria, and there s no way i would agree to give them that legitimacy. the evil it represents is alive and well in russia. he s dismembering democracies everywhere, and he s trying to do so in our own backyard. i would stay tough on putin. it would be a mistake to try and get him back in the g8. jonathan swann, of all the things for the president to say at theg g7, why this? i have been trying to find out and frankly i don t know why. what i have been told, it was not part of any grand preparation or talk points or anything like that, so it took people by surprise.