Listen to the Logic

Regular readers know how often I bewail the reduction of political discourse in America to propagandizing, sloganeering, over-simplification and outright pandering. That’s why it is such a relief to read the report of Dem. Senator Joe Lieberman after his most recent trip to Iraq: Listen to the Logic of Lieberman

Here’s an individual who, without the byline, we would quickly describe as an objective, non-partisan observer. Consider that for a moment. If you didn’t have the name and didn’t recall the leadership position in his party, you would be hard pressed to think the report was coming out of our Senate.

He actually was on site, not writing from an ivory tower of academia or a bastion of pacifist idealism. He went and drew his own conclusions. Notice that there is a recommendation to get over the continual talking point emphasis about what was the reason for going to Iraq in the first place. Quite correctly, Lieberman points out that it really doesn’t make any difference anymore whether we accept the reasons or the revisionism. We are there and there are more good reports than bad reports when you actually consult with the people on the ground—both coalition and locals.

Maybe there is hope after all.