Last week President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia declared a state of emergency, shutting down the country's independent media and banning meetings in response to public demonstrations against him that had turned violent.

The president's action came on the heels of the state of emergency declared in Pakistan, another U.S. ally, by Gen. Pervez Musharraf. He clamped down on freedoms in the wake of demonstrations and disorders in the country directed against him.

The Pakistan developments are much more important than those in Georgia, given the vital role Pakistan plays in the U.S. effort against al-Qaida and the Taliban in South Asia. At the same time, the Georgia meltdown constituted a major embarrassment to the White House.

President Bush was particularly effusive in his praise of Mr. Saakashvili during a visit to Georgia in 2005. Mr. Bush declared in Tbilisi, the capital, that he was "proud to stand beside a president who has shown such spirit, determination and leadership in the cause of freedom." Georgia got the U.S. presidential visit because of its 2003 Rose Revolution. Mr. Bush called Georgia under Mr. Saakashvili's leadership "a beacon of liberty." Georgia also sent troops to Afghanistan and Iraq and is currently seeking membership in NATO.

Pained by the Georgian president's undemocratic response to his political opposition, which is charging him with corruption, Mr. Bush sent an envoy to try to get the beacon of democracy back on track. Instead, Mr. Saakashvili has called early elections for Jan. 5 in an effort to hang on to power.

Georgia is hard to govern. Its government faces rebellions in two of its regions as well as the current opposition in the streets. But Mr. Bush was ill-advised to cite it for its love of freedom in light of the very harsh climate for that commodity in that corner of the Caucasus. His words of praise are now coming back to haunt him.