When an older editorialist like Reeves sees the writing on the wall...

[Khephra]

Then I really must say that I think the tide has turned!

---

THE VICE PRESIDENT COMETH


Making South Vietnam into a colony of the United States turned out to be a bad idea. But it took many of us more than 10 years to figure that out. The country, or half-country, became ours in the autumn of 1963, when President John F. Kennedy signed off on a military coup overthrowing President Ngo Dinh Diem. We abandoned the place in 1975.


Those were the good old days before satellite television and all news, all the time. News came by appointment each evening at 7 o'clock then. Reaction times usually fit 24-hour cycles. Now there is no reaction time, and we are trying to create the equivalent of quantum mechanics or chaos theory to explain how events and their force fields push, pull, impinge, collide and bounce off each other.


You know things are happening too quickly for traditional analysis when Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) is sent out to try to calm the faithful. And there he was last Thursday night to explain why it was we went to war only 130 days before. His plea for patience, understanding and patriotism fell on friendly ears in the auditorium of the American Enterprise (news - web sites) Institute, where President Bush (news - web sites) had gone at the end of February, before the invasion of Iraq (news - web sites), to say, "We will remain in Iraq as long as necessary, and not a day more."

snip...............

We do not, as most everyone knows, have the patience Cheney asked for on Thursday. One day, perhaps in memoirs, Bush and Cheney will have to admit that a series of well-meaning, very American misjudgments and miscalculations has once again put us in harm's way without a decent local map.

more.....................

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=123&ncid=742&e=10&u=/030726/79/4smd4.html

Now I don't agree with the "well-meaning" bit, but he sees it all coming down now, I do believe. He doesn't come out and say it, but the Vietnam comparison is too strong in this piece.

[11cents]

1. Guys like Reeves....

... hard-assed cynics who were already professional journalists during Vietnam, are likely to be the *first* to see the writing on the wall.

[Eloriel]

2. Well, that could happen (the memoirs)

if they weren't narcissists or more probably, sociopaths completely without conscience.

I have been reminded many times in my own reveries about McNamara's book tours from sometime in the 90s, and his memorable line from the book: We were wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. And how his voice cracked during all those interviews as he talked about it.

Those words won't come out of the tongue or pen or keyboards of any of the current crop of "leaders," I'm pretty sure. Nor will they be begging for forgiveness for the senseless horrors they wrought.

May they burn in hell.

Eloriel

[berry]

3. Good one. Also some of his other recent articles are hard hitting--

like his defense of the soldier who said on ABC that Rummy should resign.

I want him to be on TV talking like this. Then the tide will have turned. It's going in that direction, all right.

[blm]

6. Reeves is occasionally on Charlie Rose...

and Cspan, but, not often enough. He's truly a brilliant historian who favors no side but the side of honest history.

[NJCher]

4. yeah, but....

This statement shows he doesn't really understand what's behind bushco's war:

One day, perhaps in memoirs, Bush and Cheney will have to admit that a series of well-meaning, very American misjudgments and miscalculations has once again put us in harm's way without a decent local map.

"Well-meaning?" An imperialistic power grab on another nation's resources is "well-meaning?"


Cher

[Khephra]

5. Give him a bit of time

First they have to realize that the war is going downhill fast, then they'll realize just how deep the rabbithole goes.