Rally Point

This evening, for the first time in the last two weeks, I felt a rally point had been found, when at the gym I saw on the news Bush saying no, we're not withdrawing from Iraq, and no, we won't be talking to (blackmailers) Iran and Syria -- Iraq is a sovereign country and THEY will be doing the talking with their neighbors in their own interest.

Which is a veiled threat because Iraq can -- and should -- strike back (with our backing) if foreign nations are being hostile.

That's a whole different negotiation dynamic than "the U.S. engaging Iran and Syria" which is code for throwing Lebanon and Iraq to the wolves to get the violence off our tv screens!

And because we apparently share the same mind, wretchard at Belmont Club felt it today too for a host of reasons:

Signs that the retreat following the the November elections is starting to end is suggested not by a single dramatic event but by a succession of small ones. Often the change is simply atmospheric. Something feels different. People regain their confidence. But most of all it comes from the realization from those who have formerly been on the defensive that the opposition is not ten feet tall.

Indeed.

I'd rather be in our shoes as we do ultimately hold the real trump cards of power. It just takes a simple act of will, a single cabled order, to eliminate all our enemies from this plane of reality, even without resorting to the nuclear triad.

"Soft power", based on persuasion, fantasies, and dreams, requires the opponent never wakes up.