SO, WHAT HAPPENED?

So, what happened on Tuesday?

First, the American people collectively are incapable of long supporting a war that seems to lack any clear path to victory. If we cannot use our overwhelming superiority in firepower to bomb and blast our enemy into submission and surrender and, thusly, end the war, the American people are going to eventually rebel at the continued loss of our young people in combat that seems to most of them to be pointless. Most Americans now view the Iraq War in that light. They are not willing to spend the lives of their soldiers to bring democracy to the Arabs (or anybody else, for that matter) nor act as referees between battling sects and their armed militias. Since the President and the Republicans were unwilling to either use overwhelming force to crush our enemies or get our troops out of harm's way, they paid the price at the polls.

Second, conservative Republicans and independents who lean to the right have, over time, become disillusioned with Republicans in Congress who seemed only to be concerned with remaining in power rather than hewing to conservative, small government principles. Eventually, this was going to catch up with them.

Third, religious Republicans and others who care about morality and honesty in public life grew increasingly disenchanted with Republican leadership in Washington that seemed more concerned with maintaining their grip on power rather than enforcing high moral and ethical standards. The Foley scandal merely acted as the straw that broke the camel's back.

These problems, it seems to me, offer a clear path to electoral redemption, as they are all fairly easily solved. First, go all out to win in Iraq or get out. Second, return to conservative principles in speech AND ACTION. Third, set high moral and ethical standards and enforce them among your members. Now that the GOP is out of power in Congress, step one is up to the President. I hope he offers up a new strategy that will seek to do whatever is necessary to crush the insurgency and smash the sectarian militias in short order, even putting an Iraqi military government in place if that proves necessary. Unfortunately, I suspect the commission that is studying the matter will, instead, come up with a plan that will in essence allow us to declare victory and go home, which will lead to the disintegration of the Iraqi state and the triumph of our Islamofascist enemies. Steps two and three should be done by Republicans at all levels. If we return to the principles that brought about the Republican Revolution in 1994, then perhaps the voters will give us another bite at the apple.