That will constitute the total of my whining about the election results. In my Army training, even in training for how to respond to a nuclear attack (obviously not a direct hit), the final step was "continue the mission." The mission in question is winning the war against Islamo-fascism in Iraq and more broadly. In the former, I think we've gone far enough toward winning that it would take a stupendous feat of idiocy to undo what we've accomplished. I don't put it beyond some of the loyal former opposition, but I doubt it. For the latter, if we become lax, we will endure casualties and then respond as we should. I think the broader fight can only be interrupted and not halted based on the hatred of our enemies.
This is a foreign policy blog and it will be a vastly different environment to comment when the administration will no doubt be less than vigilant in fighting that war initially. It may be a target-rich environment for blogging, I'm afraid.
Yet President Obama will be my president. I can wish it otherwise, but he won fair and square. (So, will the Lefties finally admit that we don't live under a Bushtatorship?)
And while I think that Obama is a poor choice to be the first African-American president, it is good in an abstract sense that an African American can win the presidency. As a bonus, another line of attack on America is disarmed. If we had to elect a Lefty, Obama provides advantages that a white Kerry does not.
Nor will I complain about the intelligence of the voters. They had reason to justify their votes regardless of whether they were right to respond to their worries as they did. If they did not vote for McCain, the fault is McCain's for failing to make the case for his election. The press was not fair to McCain, but that was a problem to be overcome and not a problem to excuse failure.
And since my first impulse is country first, I hope that in 2012 that American security and economic health will be strong enough that Americans will want to reward Obama by re-electing him. I will not wish for failure in America the next four years. I am worried that he is not up to the task, but I wish the new president well.
Besides, power is distributed. If President Obama and Speaker Pelosi (I'll ignore the non-leader Reid who simply does what he is told) want to push the country too far left, there will be resistance. And as a bonus, remember that if Obama orders a nuclear attack on Tehran, he'll be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Membership has its advantages.
And stay healthy Obama, Biden is next in line. That would truly be frightening.
But remember the anguish of war supporters after the 2006 election. I was one of the more optimistic observers after that election and even I underestimated how much we could accomplish despite the children having the gavel in Congress.
The advice I gave in 2006 still holds true:
Our enemies won't take a timeout while we war supporters cry in our beer. Review our assets, cover new weaknesses, work the problems, and win the war. I still believe the advantages lie with us and not our enemies. Besides, nobody else can protect us. Let's get to work.
Work the problem, people. In the short term, the obstacles to fighting are obviously greater. Our president elect is not committed to the war we are in since he doesn't recognize that we are at war. But we still need to work the problem. Our enemies won't be impressed that we elected Obama. They still want to kill us.
If it was easy, it wouldn't be a war. It would be community organizing, or some such rot.
Okay, that was a little bitterness showing. But thank God I can still cling to a gun for comfort, I suppose.
