Along for the ride

This week the state of the union speech was delivered. The next day the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a resolution rebuking the administration’s new “surge” policy in Iraq. The resolution will go to the full Senate next week. It is expected to pass with a number of republicans voting in favor of it. The resolution has no teeth; it is merely a statement of disapproval of the handling of the war.

The point of the resolution is that Bush’s support has practically evaporated. Republicans are now brazenly speaking out against the war in Iraq. Only a couple of years ago the situation was the complete opposite. Then all the republicans (except Ron Paul) and most of the democrats supported the President. Also, the majority of Americans were in support as well.

But for those who cared to delve a little deeper into the pronouncements that were being made by the White House at the time, it was clear that a disinformation campaign was being waged in the American media. So for those of us who opposed the war fundamentally from the start it was very clear that no matter what the truth really was, the vast majority of the population was behind the war and that was all that mattered. Now this is a very important point and this is what politicians know well. The facts don’t matter for the majority. If you can get a portion of the herd steered in the direction you want the rest will fall in line. They make their decisions based on the prevailing view of the public. So with a good enough marketing campaign you can get the herd to go along with practically anything. This concept is a double-edged sword however.

The people who do not follow the herd and choose to make informed decisions can only stand by and watch as folks go headlong on a fool’s errand. The pendulum will invariably swing the other way, however. As time wears on and more information begins to come to light, slowly people’s opinions begin to change. The minority group begins to grow ever so slightly. Various congressmen and senators begin to modify their positions; this reverberates out into the populace and a few more people change their stance. With the war in Iraq this process has been evolving for three years now, and this leads me back to the beginning.

What we have seen now is the shift of the herd. As the popularity of the president and the war have declined, the people who supported the war only because they perceived everyone else was supporting it, have now swung over to non-support since they perceive that to be the position of the majority.

In the congress and the senate it is no different. People that authorized the war now speak against it because they sense the herd has changed direction. Politicians who were once intimidated by the administration are now emboldened to speak up. Although I am glad to see the change taking place, I have no illusion that people have taken a thorough assessment of the situation and are making principled stands based on good information. They are just going along with the crowd.

It really begs the question, what did you think was going to happen when we invade another country? Are you genuinely surprised that war did not go as planned?

But I don’t think the majority of people thought about it then or now. They’re just along for the ride, wherever it may lead.