If the politicians in Washington know nothing (which is probably true - ed.) else, they should know that the country is deeply divided over just about everything. Hence, before they go off pontificating about how they won the election and therefore they can do anything they want, they need to know that half the country will not follow. And if the country doesn't follow, everything they try is doomed to failure.
For example, support for what Washington is doing in Iraq is fading. The latest evidence of this is a Washington Post/ABC News poll that finds:
Nearly three-quarters of Americans say the number of casualties in Iraq is unacceptable, while two-thirds say the U.S. military there is bogged down and nearly six in 10 say the war was not worth fighting -- in all three cases matching or exceeding the highest levels of pessimism yet recorded.
Don't get
me wrong, that doesn't mean US citizens don't support the
military or the unfortunate citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan.
One cannot view this photo of "Aussain Ali, an Iraqi
policeman who was wounded in clashes between Iraqi police and
gunmen in west Baghdad, Wednesday June 8, 2005 after gunmen
attacked a police car. One police officer was killed and six
injured" and not feel for the brave men and women trying to
bring peace to their troubled land.
But a smart politician will lead wherever his or her constituents want to follow. Unfortunately, many politicians are extremist who don't care what their constituents want. Therein lies the tragedy that befalls us.
