The breaking of the right

I'm not particularly sanguine about the statements of senators like Lugar and Domenici. But I do think their outspokenness is representative of a slow change. So slow that Bush's war might outlast his presidency? Probably. But it certainly makes the chances that something might happen in September--the arbitrary end date the president set for his own arbitrarily devised strategy--at least a little bit higher. My sense is that, in a tragic way, the handful of people who might break at the end of the summer already know that the war needs to end, but don't believe they have the right political cover to say so. Which is a morally repugnant way to advance a war, but also a predictable extension of politics as usual. The cognitive dissonance must be overwhelming, though, and, if a good record exists documenting the impact it has had on these peoples' lives and careers, it might well serve as an important lesson for the politicians of future generations similarly hesitant to act in accordance with their better instincts.