I endorsed Howard Dean because I thought there was a chance -- if only a small chance -- that he might break with the rigid, totalitarian orthodoxy that requires American politicians to pledge unthinking loyalty to the state of Israel and all of its actions, no matter how foolish or destructive.

It is this mindset, more than anything else, that has made it impossible for America to construct a sensible foreign policy in the Middle East. It's also one of the key political factors that made it possible for the neocons to drag America into a pointless and unnecessary war in Iraq -- the same war that Dr. Dean says he opposed.

It's obvious -- to me, anyway -- that I made a mistake in endorsing Dean. As they say about second marriages, it represented the triumph of hope over experience. At the time, I thought Dean was trying to let some light into the dark dungeon of U.S. policy in the Middle East, he was being smeared for it, and I felt obliged to defend him in whatever small way I could.

This was dumb. It was all just primary politics, which I should have realized from the start. Dean might or might not be willing to break with the prevailing orthodoxy if he wins the White House, but looking for evidence one way or another in his campaign rhetoric is a fool's errand -- as his most recent comments demonstrate.

So I'm un-endorsing him.

posted by Cyndy | link | | |