Larry Johnson, friend of Valerie Plame, ex-CIA Analyst, and blogger [
No Quarter] has this to say today:
Call me Don Quixote, but we may have a chance to get US policy towards Iran and Iraq back into the realm of sanity despite the Bush Administrations’ suicidal tendencies. I base this in part on the results of briefing on consecutive days this week two very diverse groups of members of Congress. I will not tell you whether they were Senators or Representatives or both. Nor will I divulge the full details of our closed door discussions. (And, I did not get paid anything nor am I asking any member of Congress to do anything other than act in the best interest of the people of the United States).
Wednesday night I participated in the briefing of 14 members of Congress, a majority of whom would be labeled as liberal Democrats by most Republicans (but a couple of classy Republicans did attend that session). The following day I briefed 12 Republican legislators, who by Democratic standards, are considered libertarian to ultra conservative. The topic was the same–Is War with Iran Inevitable and What are our Options?
I was encouraged on several fronts. First, I got to brief two members who are vying for their respective party’s presidential nomination. Second, there appears to be an emerging consensus among Republicans and Democrats–who, under most circumstances, are at each others throats–that we need to find a way to protect the strategic interests of the United States in the Middle East without going to war with Iran and while extricating our troops from the civil war in Iraq…
This post from Larry can’t be summarized. It’s worth a full read. I’ve felt a bit encouraged myself – the Byrd bill, the Webb/Clinton Bill, the plummeting currency of the Bush Administration, the slow grind of the Congressional Hearings, even the fearful bellowing of O’Reilly and Limbaugh all feel like Fall is in the air – things are about to change. We’ve all longed for a catacysm, some seismic event that results in a great awakening. It’s not going to be, I’m afraid. Each opportunity leaves us disappointed – Plamegate, the Libby Trial, the Investigation of the U.S. Attorney scandal, the N.S.A. scandal, Blackwater. We’d like to see America rise up in outrage. But each of these things has taken it’s toll. The people on the Right still talk about the same things, but the fire isn’t in the belly any more. I find myself actually hoping that our next Administration takes the reasonable concerns of the average Conservative seriously. Bush, Cheney, and Rove polarized the country on purpose. We don’t need to keep it going for them.
So I’m tired of waiting too, but I do feel a glimmer of hope…
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