"if you fake the funk, your nose will grow"

lack of leadership always leads to a lack of sensible direction. w/no one to point out the way, there will be several ways & unclear ideas about how to proceed. there will be confusion & indecision. w/no one to take responsibility, the end results usually won't be clear, & therefore will lack a true sense of accomplishment. most worrisome is the end may be the end: unforeseen disaster, embarrassments, termination. when people are casting about & flailing away, it's best to duck & get out of the way. no one is safe.

i wrote earlier about the republican's confused political strategies. none of that has changed. pundits are still shaking their heads in wonderment & disbelief. i will say right here & now that unlike many of the pundits, i won't particularly be sad to see this train wreck. i think we do need intelligent opposition here in america but the republicans haven't been that for nearly two decades. i am hoping the republican recovery from their political trauma will produce new leaders w/new ideas & will jettison the problematic elements that cling to the old divisive social issues. these problematic elements are the ones gunning for a "purge" of the moderates in the party. they're the ones who are ensuring another embarrassing defeat for their party come 2010.

unbelievably, their flailing away might actually have a reverse purge effect. in their efforts to get any traction against obama & the democrats, they've moved on nancy pelosi & are piling on. that's fine; that's politics in washington. the problem is that it isn't a political issue they're jumping on. they seem to think it is & that's what's so squeamishly fascinating here. the issue is torture: who did it, who knew about it, who authorized it. the democratic administration had appeared to be working double time to prevent an investigation into the former administration's involvement. that's not going to work now, not w/the leaderless republicans basically admitting that torture DID happen but pelosi knew & she's guilty too. investigations are now picking up speed, uncovering the astonishing fact that they tortured NOT to make america safe(an initial defense)but to make the case for the invasion of iraq.

it seems to me that the republicans MIGHT win a small skirmish(diverting attention from the dems)while bringing on a catastrophic unwinnable war. as unimaginable as it is right now to picture cheney(along w/a number of other die-hard bush loyalists) standing trial for war crimes, every day the republicans harrangue against pelosi brings that picture more into focus. there may well be a purge of the republican party but not the one they have in mind. the once impervious "bushies," who lorded over the party, ruled the country foolishly, & declared they'd be in control for generations could be the ones going to jail or just publicly disgraced. this will have happened thanks almost solely to the republicans themselves. in their fervor to inflict any kind of damage on the enemy, they've jumped on the bomb themselves & seem hell-bent on riding it all the way to the end. when that end comes though, i don't think anyone will be thanking them.