This has been coming for a few weeks, just between being super busy at work and at home, but I hit the wall this week on a couple of points. First, I don’t think I’m being all that interesting for everyone to read, in large part because my disappointment, confusion, or outrage at the various things the administration does is predictable and obvious. This is the worst White House in my lifetime, and not because of partisan issues. Everyone knows I think this, and nothing they do surprises anyone anymore anyway. So, that’s one reason.

The other reason is (ironically) that I’m more or less speechless about what’s happening right now in Congress, in the media, and in the world in general. We get told that September is a key month, that General Petraeus is going to give us a report, and when he reports that, “Well, nothing has actually changed, but I really, really believe it will” the President announces he’s going to continue on the same path he’s been following for the last 5 years. Literally, he changed nothing. That’s simply unbelievable. The fact that the rest of the world, including the media, Republicans in Congress, and the public, isn’t excoriating him makes it doubly frustrating.

But, what pushed my decision this morning was finally reading the lead editorial in this week’s Economist. As a magazine I traditionally have respected, even if I often don’t agree, I don’t expect the magazine to go stupid on me. This week, the Economist has gone stupid. I don’t know what else to say. In an issue with the cover boldly stating “Why They Should Stay,” the entire argument of why we should stay is the following:

If America removes its forces while Iraq remains in its present condition, the Iraqi future is indeed likely to be disastrous. For that reason above any other, and despite misgivings about the possibility of even modest success any time soon, our own view is that America (and Britain) ought to stay in Iraq until conditions improve.

In a thousand-word editorial, that is the entirety of their argument for staying. There is literally not one other paragraph in the entire thing that makes a case for staying. Not. One. Paragraph. None. Not a supporting fact. Nothing. The bulk of the editorial then explains why, yes maybe, the folks arguing for a departure might have a point. In fact, the section that closes out the editorial has the subhead: “Not a must, just an ought” Why did they even waste the ink?

It’s clear to me that this war, and politics in general, foreign policy in particular is no longer about being right, or making the right choices. I expect politics to play a part, even a significant part, but it shouldn’t be the only consideration. Making the right choices, or trying to understand what the right choices might be, has been what motivates me to care, the understanding that this nation, yes, even through government, has the ability to do good by being smart, creating good policy, and stepping back when the government isn’t needed. None of this matters in our debate, and none of it seems to have any effect on anyone’s opinion.

So, I’ll continue to care about this stuff, but silently for a while. I’ll still be blogging, but hopefully more technology stuff and also the link posts I do (like the ones below). Just don’t feel like writing about politics right now. Knowing me, this’ll probably last a week, but I am going to try to stick to it to see how it feels.