Blogospheric bloviation

Finally, calmer voices of reason are entering the debate about Libya. Univ. of Illinois professor P.M. Carpenter's take on US Libya policy and the outbreak of off-base, blogger bloviation is far and away the most intelligent assessment I've seen to date.

Carpenter writes:

"Andrew Sullivan's objections to President Obama's Libya speech are, it seems to me, flawed from the get-go, and then the flaw never lets loose. [...] Here, though, to somewhat repeat myself, is the overarching point: I don't know how to change the real world, and neither does Obama. There are domestic politics in play, like it or not. There are diplomatic politics in play, like it or not. There are regional transformations to be pondered and weighed together and separately, like them or not. There are some bad friends to be protected and many good allies to be assuaged, like it or not. And there is the stupidity of ideology and uniform answers and the nimble flexibility of pragmatism and nuance, the first of which Obama rejects, the second of which he embraces. Does that guarantee a splendid outcome? Of course not. But that's the real if regrettable world in which Obama operates, and most blogospheric commentators do not."

Amen. Read Carpenter's entire post here.