Keeping one's foot on the accelerator: "The pragmatism of American idealism" and the "glorious catastrophe" it wrought

Austin Bay praises "the pragmatism of American idealism" while the Washington Post's David Ignatius evokes "a glorious catastrophe take place in the Middle East" and an end to Damascus's "'sandwich strategy' for squeezing America in Iraq between a Syrian-backed insurgency and Iranian pressure".

There's no stopping the Middle East's glorious catastrophe now that it has begun. We are careening around the curve of history, and it's useful to remember a basic rule for navigating slippery roads: Once you're in the curve, you can't hit the brakes. The only way for America to keep this car on the road is to keep its foot on the accelerator.

(Thanks to the Ashbrook Center's Peter W. Schramm)

Check out Daryl Cagle's collection of cartoons on Syria and Lebanon (my favorites are those of Marshall Ramsey, Steve Breen, and Petar Pismestrovich), on Bush and Putin (Cam, Mike Keefe, and Scott Stantis), and on Bush's visit in Europe (Matt Davies, Dick Wright, John Sherffius, and Steve Kelley)…