How do you extricate yourself from a war that should have never been started?

I wish I had the answer to that question. Build a time machine perhaps. The shortsightedness of the people who started this mess is certainly apparent now that we have been at it for eight years and it is clear that there is no end in sight.

Time machine aside, I personally can see only four options for Afghanistan, none of them are viable.

1. The pretend it didn't happen option:
Walk away. Let the country go where it will and deal with the result the way is should have been dealt with.

2. The put it in a drawer option:
Vacuum pack Afghanistan and Pakistan together and economically isolate them and anyone who does business with them until the situation works itself out.

3. The Republican option:
Commit every able bodied soldier to the fight in Afghanistan and see how many more of our own people we can loose in the process.

4. The talk about it and do nothing option:
This seems to be where Washington is right now.

Personally, I would go for option 2 as the lesser of the available evils, if I can't have that, then option 1. In my opinion fighting a war is a lot like being sued, it is not about winning, it is all about loosing less than the other guy.

Life is a far too precious commodity to waste on war.

There are some things that will move even me out of a work induced stupor...

Joe Wilson shouts to Obama during speech: 'You lie'
First of all, this behavior in a public school from a child would not be tolerated.  WTF is going on in South Carolina?  Is this the best South Carolina can do?  Sweet Jesus, no wonder the GOP can only say no, yes has too many letters.  In this light, I am sure he didn't know how wrong he was because he doesn't have the mental capacity to read the bill he is opposing...

Democrats Recharged, GOP Unmoved By Obama
This is so like the GOP.  Lets look at the "Actions speak louder than words" view of reality.  The GOP was more than willing, even eager, to spend hundreds of billions of dollars, without thought to where the money was going to come from or who was going to pay for it, in order to kill hundreds of thousands of people in Iraq and Afghanistan.  They fought, bickered, and lied in order to justify this war without heed to wiser heads that called for calm and peace.  Now, given the opportunity to save tens of thousands of lives they fight, bicker, and even lie in order to keep it from happening.  So, if I read this right, from the GOP's point of view it is OK to kill people with our tax dollars, it is just not OK to keep them alive...

GOP decides ‘It’s the economy’ for 2010
Leaders plan to zero in on anxiety, unemployment as key to momentum
I have to laugh.   The GOP, (the party that engineered the economic meltdown, remember?), is counting on the gullibility of the average voter, (the people who can't remember anything political past 90 days), to blame the economic problems of the country on the democrats.  Apparently the GOP plans to convince people that after they spent 8 years screwing things up that it is all the dems fault that it couldn't be fixed in 6 months.  Perhaps there should be a minimum intelligence requirement for voters...

Out of work, out of benefits, out of luck
By August, 65% of all filers for unemployment insurance will have run out of their standard 26 weeks. And that's just the beginning.
I read this and I think to myself, "There but for the grace of God go I."  I am lucky enough to still have a job, but I can see that my job could disappear in a heartbeat.  The chain of events started by the GOP could still claim everything I have worked for and everything I own before it is stopped.  Just what I would expect from them, actually.

Sorry about the absence - life, on occasion, gives us a wake up call and we have to leave the comfort of our preconceptions in move into the real world for a while before once again curling up in our coccoons of rationalized comfort.

I have, however, been following the actions of the G "NO" P and the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor with some amusement.  It will be interesting to see what emerges out of the self-marginalization of the conservatives to accomodate the actual majority of moderates in this country that they are trying so hard to alienate.

George W Bush on the other hand is doing the first intelligent thing that he has ever done in his life, he is keeping his mouth shut and his head down.