The Times They Are A-Changin'

It is worth remembering that not very long ago, what is being contemplated in Syria -- as foolish or futile as it may be -- would have been debated within the lines of what was once called a "proportional response". Bad guy does this; we do that, with missiles launched from far away. The "cost of doing business".

Then came 9/11 and George W. Bush's twin disasters in Afghanistan and Iraq:  twin disasters which were preceded by loud and categorical statements of moral and factual certainty which we now know to have been lies, and which were followed by an all-out/all-fronts campaign to delegitimize and traitorize anyone who questioned the march to war.

Now what is being contemplated in Syria -- as foolish or futile as it may be -- is being openly discussed in many quarters on the Left and Right as if it were the Mother of All Slippery Slopes.

All things considered, I consider that to be a healthy development.