My father always said, “Don’t start a fight, but if you can’t avoid it, give it all you’ve got.” I don’t think invading Iraq was a good idea, given how we’ve mishandled it by not using overwhelming force, but it’s not too late to change the course of the war in our favor. Or is it? We are a representative democracy, and it’s possible to read the midterm election results as a war veto by the American people, but is that correct? Only 41% of eligible voters actually went out and exercised that right, and I don’t think it’s accurate or possible to then say that we are vehemently opposed to the war. What I believe, in hindsight, is that we are vehemently opposed to losing the war. The message that was sent was, “Hey Washington, either win or get out. Enough of this half-way stuff.”

That may not have been the right message, but maybe, again in hindsight, it was the only message that would have been heard in the halls of government. The hope is that collectively, we are by the grace of God, wiser than we are individually. But the jury is most assuredly out on that verdict.