"All human wisdom," writes Alexandre Dumas at the end of The Count of Monte Cristo, "will be contained in these two word: Wait and hope."
That seems especially true for American wisdom theses days. As General Stanley McChrystal asks for, demands more troops to fight the war in Afghanistan, President Obama’s former campaign slogan seems to be prescient: HOPE.
And so we do. Last weekend the New York Times ran an op-ed piece called "10 Steps to Victory in Afghanistan" that mostly pointed to things a class of eight-year-olds could have suggested given the weekend, such as: "Kick out Corruption" and "End Suicide Attacks." Others, including Andrew McDonald Exum’s plea for America to take a risk by protecting the Afghan population more than themselves, were admittedly refreshing.
Meanwhile, Lara Logan is over on The Colbert Report, promoting infidelity (with other nations) after recently giving birth to the child of a married man, and advocating that the President "absolutely grasps the importance of Afghanistan to al Qaeda" but that the "wait and hope" option his decision has left the world with is somewhat detrimental the fight against terror.
Logan continued from underneath mascara that matched her blouse, "This time that [Obama is] taking is very frightening, especially to the soldiers on the ground because, in a way, we’re lost right now. And what appears to eh a wavering in US resolve is the smell of victory to al Qaeda and the Taliban."
Republicans in congress echo Logan. This morning, Senator John McCain called for action. "It’s pretty clear that time is not on our side, as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has said," McCain announced. "We need to act with all deliberate haste." (Not a fan of "all human wisdom" I guess.)
The majority of congress, more Democratic, less knowledgeable on Afghanistan and less likely to want to publically push the president for fear that that would cause people to, someday, think that any one of them made a goddam decision, waits and hopes – terrified that they will lose their jobs by doing their jobs. Their fears represented by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
"I've also made it clear it's a very difficult vote to get from the members," Pelosi said this week, as quoted by Politico. "Their constituents don't like an escalated war in Afghanistan. They'd like to see a different approach. But let's see what the president has to say."
And while Congress waits and hopes on the president, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) waits on McChrystal to push back against the House Speaker. "If Nancy Pelosi’s failed economic policies are any indicator of the effect she may have on Afghanistan, taxpayers can only hope McChrystal is able to put her in her place," the NRCC said in a statement.
It terms of The Obama, the word Wait is now added to his message of Hope; Afghanistan is not the only situation on pause. Last week, Michael Moore continued to push his point of "wait and hope" for Obama on the stimulus package as a guest on Tavis Smiley. We’ll have to wait and see if the banks use the money in the way that Obama had hoped they would.
We’ll have to wait and hope on health care. We’ll have to wait and hope on unemployment. We’ll have to wait and hope on Iran and Iraq and North Korea. We’ll have to wait and hope on climate change.
After a friend and I enjoyed the upcoming HBO documentary, "By the People: The Election of Barack Obama" last weekend, the friend noted without so much as turning to look at me that, while he liked the film, he had "followed the election so closely." He stopped at that, but what he was saying was that he’d expected his Hope to pay off by now. He’d expected Obama’s other grande mot d’an (pretty sure I just made that up) by now: Change.
On the other side of the couch: me, the negative guy in the room. I don’t expect things to take a turn for the better any time soon. I find action in Obama’s inaction; as Logan pointed out, his silence says something to the Taliban and al Qaeda – but not only them. His silence says something to those who would be our allies. It says consideration. It says due diligence. It says not rushing in without proper intelligence.
I have money down that Obama will listen to McChrystal, that he will send troops. After he does, because of his lack of "deliberate haste" he will be much more likely to have the support of an actual coalition. After he does that, he won’t have to ask the hot girl to prom; the girl will have already talked herself into going. And, if finding an incredibly hot prom date isn’t the proper way to use the wisdom of Alexandre Dumas, I really don’t see what the point of waiting and hoping is.
