Welcome to Mars...

It's open; all 'ours.

Don't mind the stares;
We've paid for these chairs.

and,
Keep up that Smile;
It Might be a While.



MEANWHILE,
Back in the Real World:

Who’s in charge here?

The truth is that we have no idea how the president really feels about the deadline he imposed for beginning a troop withdrawal. It always seemed peculiar to telegraph the start of a troop pullout while fighting (in this case, escalating) a war. And Mr. Obama has always been careful to ratchet up the ambiguity quotient by saying the start of any withdrawal would depend on conditions on the ground.

Anyone who has been paying attention knows that conditions on the ground right now are awful, so it looks as though we’re going to be there for a long, long while.

This is a terrible thing to contemplate because in addition to the human toll (nearly half of all the American troop deaths in Afghanistan have occurred since Mr. Obama took office), the war is a giant roadblock in the way of efforts to deal effectively with deteriorating economic and social conditions here in the United States.

Look around at the economy, the public school system, the federal budget deficits, the fiscal conditions plaguing America’s state and local governments. We are giving short shrift to all of these problems and more while pouring staggering amounts of money (the rate is now scores of billions of dollars a year) into a treacherous, unforgiving and hopelessly corrupt sinkhole in Afghanistan.

(I stand in awe of the heights of hypocrisy scaled by conservative politicians and strategists who demand that budget deficits be brought under control while cheering the escalation in Afghanistan and calling for ever more tax cuts here at home.)

I'm going to say, Bob, a lot of Americans are content to compromise away life. No leaders with roots ("I was for the mosque, before I was against it."). For me, not for thee. (My personal favorite.) No bang for the buck. (Work harder, pay more in, ... for less.) And here we are, throwing our lot in Afghanistan like the Soviets.

Oh well.
Back to Mars.