Sullivan

This is classic Andrew Sullivan:

The real news in the Downing Street memos is not, I think, some non-existent plot to lie to America about the war. The administration genuinely believed Saddam had WMDs, planned to remove him very shortly after 9/11, and made the broader case for democratization long before the war broke out. I agreed with them on all of it, and still do, apart from the obvious fact that we were wrong about the WMDs. But none of this is what is really scandalous about the memos. What's scandalous is that they reveal that the administration had no real plans for running Iraq after victory. Kevin Drum lays out the evidence here and calls it "criminal neglect." He's right. I assumed that this vital war would have enough troops to succeed and that there was a detailed and smart plan for the post-war. I was wrong. In retrospect, I should have been far more aggressive in asking questions about this before the war; and I apologize for negligence in that department. But I trusted in the competence of the Bush administration. When critics say I've changed my tune, they're wrong about my position on the war on terror in principle. I still support it, believe we are still at enormous risk of catastrophe, desperately want to win in Iraq and see the terror-masters in Tehran and Damascus go down. I have simply lost confidence in this administration's capacity to wage it effectively, honestly and morally. In the second term, I've seen nothing that would allow me to feel cheerier. They're all we've got and we have to support them when they do the right thing and hope that they succeed. But hope is not the same thing as confidence. I'm clinging to one even as I've lost all grip on the other.

Boiled down - he's saying that we needed a war against terror (in Iraq?), and he's sorry the Administration bungled it and things didn't go well..

In other words, Andy presupposes the rosy scenario in geopolitics.

The thing is, he doesn't ever learn from having to say "I apologize" over and over. His interpretation of the DSM is exactly the same rosy scenario once again! He continually gives the Bush cabal the benefit of the doubt when every single thing they have done has broken that trust.

The evidence that the Bush administration intentionally lied this country into a war is a mile high. The DSM's are just further confirmation. When a memo explicitly states "intelligence is being fixed", what does he think that means?

Sullivan often writes some really sane things. Most, but not all, of the stuff he writes on gay rights is spot on. I just get this impression of Sully stamping his feet saying "I wish I wish I wish" over and over like some 8 year old the day before Christmas. He wants the best possible outcome in all things, but he refuses to see that it isn't the outcome you have to focus on, it's the process. When the process is fundamentally flawed, the outcome you want will rarely happen.

So, you have competing philosophies. You have the Republican/Conservative philosophy, and the Democrat/Liberal philosophy. I'm a true believer that the Democrat/Liberal philosophy gives a much better chance at the success that Sully is looking for.

The Republican/Conservative philosophy has proven time and again that it's flawed.

Square peg, round hole. Sully keeps beating the square peg as if it's somehow going to fit.

That's what I call being "faith based"; the idea that if you bang at that peg long enough, and wish for it hard enough, it will magically become round and slide right in and fit like a glove.

I also take exception to him urging us to "support them when they do the right thing". To do that would be to give tacit approval to the disaster they've caused. We fight tooth and nail because what is in competition here is not the politics of today, which is already ruined. We're concerned about the politics of tomorrow.

This is such an important issue that we must fight, and never let the Bush style of Republican-ism ever rear it's ugly head again.

We have to be realistic enough to know that we won't have Democratic Presidents from here on out. I can live with a McCain style Republican. Even a Goldwater Republican I could stand for 4 years. The Bush debacle has cost us far too dearly.

Now, Sully, about those terra masters in Tehran and Damascus; how do you propose to "take 'em down!"? Eh?