RE: http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,145880,00.html

I share Mr. Wheeler's cynicisn and pessimism. The 'quagmire' is not in Iraq; nor is it in the Middle East in general. The quagmire is in America.

In order to restore American Democracy, we have to cut down the power of the Presidency down to size. But to do that, we will need a sitting President who would cooperate with that effort. But it is the great power of the "unitary president", which is most alluring to the super-egotistic people who seek this office! And what source of campaign funds would there be for a candidate, who could not promise to use the power of the presidency to reward his/her most significant supporters?

A revived and re-invigorated Congress is a long shot to change this imbalance between the President and the Congress: One whose members treasure the liberties that decentralized and democratically-chosen leadership will protect. But redistricting has rendered almost 2/3 of the seats in the House of Representatives little more than representatives of ethnic enclaves!

We have a mess on our hands!

AGBrina,

I agree with most of your post, but turnover of Congress in 2006 proved that change is possible. However, the change proved one thing - neither the Democrats nor the Republicans know what to do about Iraq and the spending spree will continue in the same fashion.

I agree with most of the article, except this quote:

"It all adds up to an uncoordinated spending spasm about to hit the public's pocketbook with a vengeance."

The spending won't hit our pocketbooks. Through the miracle of deficits, we can pass this nasty surprise to our children and grandchildren.

Good article. Good comments. The voices of reason cutting through the noise. I'll offer this one observation. A significant rationale for Congress going into recess was to reconnect with their respective constituencies and in regards to the House, reconnect with their trades or businesses as well (before the evolution of career House members). I never heard this discussed in regards to the Iraqi Parliament. I guess it wasn't relevant.

Good article, I agreed.

Between Bush's bungled post-liberation "strategy" and the Dems' bungled politicizing of the war - with their political aspirations depending heavily on our failures in a war many of them voted for when it was deemed "politically necessary" - this all shows the impotence and ineffectiveness of BOTH major parties in governing! When are we going to wake up?

What's our excuse?

A broken system of government with two parties who both share similar motivations... THEMSELVES.

The situation in Washington is so pathetic now... if it weren't so tragic, it'd be hilarious.

Excellent commentary for being in "military.com".
He went after both guilty groups with no bias...excellent, most excellent.
Now, if we could only have a great catagory 5 Huricane hit the DC area and cleans it of "all" the filth and depreviaty thats piled up there (I'm referring to the political mindsets, not the actual people...before anybody get offended)
I switched to Independent canidates a long time ago, I care for neither the Republicans nor the Democrats...though, unfortionately most of my thinking is towards conservatives. But not all, depends on what the subject is really.
I do wish some one smart would push for a 10 year office time limit for both the Senate and House (so they can't build up their mini-kindoms that the 20-30 and 40 year Senators have created) ,
And a single 6 year time limit for the Presidency. Hell, they waste most their time at the end of the 1st term just trying to get re-elected instead of running the country properly, and it takes at least 4 years to get most of their programs started and running smoothly...so, six years should be enough. And, they are forbidden by law to speak at or sponcer any canidate for congress. Just do the job as a President...LEAD THE COUNTRY.
Whew! Now I'm angry just thinking about again...

How can we break through the political correctness that is destroying our country?

I found that this article is the most logical and reasoned analysis of the situation that I have seen.

This mess did not just happen overnight. We as a nation made some mistakes along the way.

1. We disregarded General Eisenhower's last speech before he left office. "Beware of the military industrial complex." I say this not to dishonor the military but to note that when the boundary between the military and commercial motives joins too closely, our democracy is in grave danger.

2. We overstayed our welcome in Vietnam. Basically, we bailed the French out as far back as the late fifties. However, time and time again we helped some very corrupt governments to get into power and got ourselves caught in that mousetrap. No one new this more than Lyndon Johnson and he paid dearly for it and he died a broken man because of it.

3. We erred in not bringing out the full truth after Nixon resigned, even after his pardon. This resulted in not coming to full closure as a nation and a people. It was said that the strife would pull the nation apart. I think that this nation is stronger than that. What was left was a young and powerful group determined to prove that had we stayed the course, we would have won.

4. These persons gained influence and finally achieved power in 2000 and their goals should have been clear from the beginning. The problem is that the Iraq War is not the Vietnam War. The quagmire of Iraq makes Vietnam look like a picnic.

What can we do now?

As a nation, we must be willing to face the truth. The full story must be told, not in partisanship, but as a united effort to determine the truth. Yes, we need to find and bring all parties to justice, and “let the chips fall where they may.”

Can we do that? I don’t know. I only know that we are facing the biggest crisis in our history. It is not radical Islam or Al Qiada. It is ourselves. If we can conquer that, we can overcome any other enemy.