Frank Rich Tells the President the War is Over
Frank Rich's stinging column crystalizes the moment in our long national train wreck that is the Iraq war. He describes a war spiraling out of control, a country running out of patience and a president stubbornly out of touch:
Only someone as adrift from reality as Mr. Bush would need to be told that a vacationing president can't win a standoff with a grief-stricken parent commandeering TV cameras and the blogosphere 24/7.According to Rich, our Iraq misadventure is in its last throes:
The country has already made the decision for Mr. Bush. We're outta there. Now comes the hard task of identifying the leaders who can pick up the pieces of the fiasco that has made us more vulnerable, not less, to the terrorists who struck us four years ago next month.
3 Comments:
It seems we are making some progress. Although the Bushco power to resist reality is the truly amazing thing about the Presidency.
Regarding reality, I've been refecting on your "Talking With Wes" post. The thing that makes me nervous is this idea that we need to accomodate "Red State Culture". The next step is to talk about who is "electable" and trying to play up electability is a proven loser.
I'd rather see a candidate who wanted to reassert a cohesive "American Culture". By that I mean a kind of "live and let live" common sense approach problem solving.
This talk of red state culture is buying into the social/religious frames that the GOP has established over the last few elections. I think Obama captured the spirit of this way of thinking in his convention speach.
Oh boy. I just read the whole Rich article.
It is like the country is waking up.
Thanks Jason for your thoughtful post.
The term "red state culture" is mine, not General Clark's. I like your preference for "American Culture."
I have no interest in buying into an intolerant ideology that claims that I am somehow less patriotic or religious. On the other hand, "Live and let live" is a credo that recognizes our own limitations.
"Electability" is a term that implies splitting the difference instead of accentuating our principled disagreement with the ruling party.
I have a feeling that this is a conversation we will be having for a while as we tackle "the hard task of identifying the leaders who can pick up the pieces."
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