No blogging energy

Even before the demands of work and school eating up my time, I just can't muster any enthusiasm on the issues of the day. First of all, I can't believe we're actually having Presidential debates for an election a year-and-a-half away. The current President has decided that he's lost credibility as "Commander in Chief" so he's invented the "war czar." And I don't think there's any glee to be found in the fact that Congress's approval rating is lower than Bush's. The wheels are coming off our democracy and absolutely nothing is getting accomplished.

Nobody cares about entitlement reform. Zimbabwe continues to sink into the abyss. The Justice department is in disarray. Those four abducted soldiers in Iraq are almost certainly dead. Iran is firing up their uranium centrifuges while the IAEA looks hurt and ineffective.

What's good? Well, the stock market is up. Fred Thompson made me laugh. And Max Boot has a good article on Opinion Journal evincing hope for the Iraqi surge:

Slow progress toward an acceptable modus vivendi may still be possible as long as the U.S. doesn't insist on artificial timetables to resolve complex and emotional issues. What incentive do Iraqi politicians have to make compromises if they think that American troops are heading out the door? If that's the case, Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds would be well advised to avoid making any concessions that would strengthen their mortal enemies. Thus all the talk in Washington about troop withdrawals has the opposite effect from what is intended. Instead of spurring Iraqi politicians to compromise, it leads them to be more obdurate.

It's still possible to stave off catastrophic defeat in Iraq. But the only way to do it is to give Gen. Petraeus and his troops more time--at least another year--to try to change the dynamics on the ground. The surge strategy may be a long shot but every alternative is even worse.

Well, I have a take-home exam to do this week, so excuse me if blogging is light. Please, scattered readers and wayward Google searchers, check out some of the blogs to the left to fill your content needs.