Back to reality
During his confirmation hearings today, Robert Gates said what the Bush administration should have admitted a long time ago - that the US is not winning the war in Iraq. [TIME]
For the entire duration of the war, the Bush administration and its apologists have demonized any frank discussion of what is really happening. Every time the media reports that another ten troops have been killed by insurgents, conservative columnists and bloggers whine about "bias"; every time a citizen questions whether this $347 billion foreign policy disaster is worth it, he or she is accused of "wanting us to lose" or "blaming America."
At this point, if I had to define the term "modern American conservative," part of my definition would be "one who believes that feelings and emotions are more important than reality." Conservative bloggers never seem to care about what actually happens; instead, the question is always just "what kind of message does this send?"
That's what's so refreshing about someone like Gates - in contrast with most of the Bush administration's appointees, he doesn't seem to give a damn about "staying on message." Whether he will be much of an improvement over Rumsfeld remains to be seen, and he is coming in at an incredibly difficult time. But as long as he puts the facts ahead of people's feelings, he's on the right track.
"Gates Before the Senate: Welcome Candor on Iraq" [TIME]
For the entire duration of the war, the Bush administration and its apologists have demonized any frank discussion of what is really happening. Every time the media reports that another ten troops have been killed by insurgents, conservative columnists and bloggers whine about "bias"; every time a citizen questions whether this $347 billion foreign policy disaster is worth it, he or she is accused of "wanting us to lose" or "blaming America."
At this point, if I had to define the term "modern American conservative," part of my definition would be "one who believes that feelings and emotions are more important than reality." Conservative bloggers never seem to care about what actually happens; instead, the question is always just "what kind of message does this send?"
That's what's so refreshing about someone like Gates - in contrast with most of the Bush administration's appointees, he doesn't seem to give a damn about "staying on message." Whether he will be much of an improvement over Rumsfeld remains to be seen, and he is coming in at an incredibly difficult time. But as long as he puts the facts ahead of people's feelings, he's on the right track.
"Gates Before the Senate: Welcome Candor on Iraq" [TIME]
posted at 1:16:00 PM | permalink
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