....the commentary offered since the speech, that which I've been able to catch up with, has offered a full range of opinions--on the right, all the way from John McCain's stolid stoicism on as many networks as possible to Chuck Colson (today on MSNBC) suggesting that Congressional war critics are close to traitors. On the other side, Joe Biden offered a slightly smarter version of John Kerry's it's-the-wrong-war-but-let's-fight-it-better stance, and Paul Begala cheered him on.
It is possible to contend that the major cause of the insurgency in Iraq at this moment is the presence of American troops there. Not saying that's the truth, but it's no goofier than what Colson offered. Yet I found no spokesman for this view represented on the after-speech commentary (no, I didn't check Pacifica). Derided as "cut-and-run" (from the same Vietnam rhetoric catalog as "stay the course"), this view has been shut out of the post-speech debate, giving viewers a blinkered view of the policy possibilities that face us.
So Americans are left with a war they don't much like (it's an isolationist country, after all, willing to pretend it cares about another nation only as long as we're really scared), and no policy options other than muddling through, Biden's way or Bush's.
