Sleepwalking thru the Storm

Senator Rick "man on dog" Santorum: "'We are sleepwalking through the storm,' Santorum said. 'How do those who deny this evil propose to save us from these people? By negotiating through the U.N. or directly with Iran? By firing Don Rumsfeld, (and) now getting rid of John Bolton? That's going to solve the problem?'"

I have been following the interesting evolution of thinking since the November elections, thinking I would deliver some kind of summary post.

I tend to think that the evolution of political thinking is a process vaguely akin to organic chemistry, fluid and difficult to predict, at times, but still regular and understandable, even when surprising.

President Bush is a moron, and his decision to invade Iraq, which was perfectly understandable at the time, even if patently unwise and unethical (not to mention illegal under international law, not that we would let some trivialities trouble us), now begins to seem inexplicable. This progress from something seeming so logical as to seem inevitable to seeming illogical to the point of being inexplicable is a process, akin to organic chemistry.

(When I am speaking of this almost-chemical evolution, of course, I mean to imply nothing about what an objective and prudent assessment would yield, at any point. I am speaking of what is sometimes called, the conventional wisdom, that is, the shared perception, which is public opinion. Public opinion is only loosely related to a wise assessment of reality, and, of course, it is always being actively managed by incompetents and plutocrats, with mixed motives. But, still, it has a logic of its own.)

The true, perfect storm is at last beginning to take shape. It is still very, very early in the formation of this particular event, but it has begun, at last.

And, at the center of this storm of storms, is a vortex formed from the inexplicable nature of Bush's total and complete failure in Iraq, a strategic failure so extreme and total as to defy the expectations and even the vocabularies of Washington's mandarins.

The U.S. has lost, and lost big -- BIG, B I G: BIG -- in Iraq. To salvage even a small sliver of stability out of this chaos, the U.S. will have to humble itself before Syria and Iran, especially Iran. The U.S. policy, the Bush policy, has made Iran the hegemonic power in the Region. We have, in effect, replaced and displaced ourselves. Our ability to withdraw from Iraq, without provoking a general war, depends entirely on our ability and willingness to hand off responsibility for Iraq to Iran, our sworn enemy.

Oy, vey!

The political difficulties are well-illustrated by Senator Santorum, the prime representative of both the totally corrupt and the totally delusional Republican. These people simply do not comprehend reality.