The Via Media

WaPo - Democrats Push Toward Middle On Iraq Policy

Democratic leaders in Congress have decided to shift course and pursue modest bipartisan measures to alter U.S. military strategy in Iraq, hoping to use incremental changes instead of aggressive legislation to break the grip Republicans have held over the direction of war policy.

As an Episcopalian, I have to admit that I'm fond of "the middle way." And really, if one is thinking logically, it was apparent that this day would eventually come. One can only do the same thing for so long without success before realizing that a different path is the only viable option. This is a democratic society after all, one designed to protect the rights of the minority as well as the majority. And this is true in Congress as well as society as a whole. It only makes sense that the Democrats in Congress would eventual come around to the notion that compromise is the best answer here, if not the only answer.

This, however, I find quite irritating:

MoveOn.org, a liberal activist group that has spent months pressuring Republicans to turn against the war, is now threatening to turn on Democrats who temper their positions.

I don't understand why MoveOn.org would prefer continually banging their heads against the wall to some incremental change. Isn't incremental change still "moving on"?