Reply #66: Well at least we're using a smiley face now....

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

Neither burning out nor fading away is a useful approach.

Change comes slowly. That's the way it's always been. In this country, it took us eleven years to get from The Declaration of Independence to the United States Constitution. And it took 78 years (and one Civil War) until we finally abolished slavery. And it took 55 years from there before women won the constitutional right to vote. On a more current note, the subject of gays in the military has been a matter of intense debate since the late 1960's.

Things always move too slowly. But if your passion causes you to reject anything other than a complete victory (and RIGHT NOW, dammit), then you've placed yourself on the political margins. To those people you would seek to protect, you've become a non-entity and all you have to offer is your rage. The world is what it is, and while we should never be content with the way things are, the task is to not allow your dissatisfaction with the world to consume you.

Under Obama we've gone from a open-ended commitment of combat troops in Iraq to a timeline for withdrawal. That's not nothing. Under Obama we've gone from no coherent approach to Afghanistan (unless "kill them all" is a coherent approach) to having a strategic plan. Now you might disagree with the strategy, but it beats the hell out of "keep shooting until we think of something better to do." We've moved from a regime that seemed to think that America had a divine right to rule the world to an Administration that works cooperatively with other nations. That's something. That's a victory.

Celebrate and move on to the next one.