Hanson's weekly column

My readers will be aware of my admiration for Victor Davis Hanson's prose, so it should come as no surprise that I mention him once again. In his article, Triangulating the War, Hanson points out how shortsighted we humans are and how much we romanticize the past. Furthermore, he posits, our spectacular successes in recent conflicts have unrealistically raised our expectations.

Yet there is much to be thankful for and a great deal to look forward to, if we but persevere, as did the generations before us.

All this we cannot see at the present as we in our weariness lament the losses of almost 1,100 combat dead and billions committed to people who appear from 30-second media streams to be singularly ungracious and not our sort of folk. We dwell on unmistakable lapses, never on amazing successes — just as we were consumed with Afghanistan in its dark moments, but now ignore its road to success. But never mind all this: The long-term prospects are still as bright as things seem gloomy in the short-term — but only if we emulate our grandfathers and press on with the third Middle East election in the last six months.

There is ample evidence that Americans understand the stakes and will stay the course. After all, we just re-elected a man who will obviously do just that. In voting for Bush's second term, America has implicitly said, "We're in it for the long haul."

Of this our forebears would be proud.