George Orwell Considers John Murtha

Quote of the day:

George Orwell [Eric Blair]

"The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it, and if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory"-- Second Thoughts on James Burnham, 1946 [hat tip Rick Brookheiser]

James Burnham was the author of The Managerial Revolution. In 1941, he prophesized an inevitable Nazi triumph. At the time the Germans were in the suburbs of Moscow. Then the tide turned. By 1944 the Germans were in full retreat. At that point Burnham did an abrupt about face and began to predict an inevitable Russian victory over the West. It is this profound cynicism and pessimism, not unlike the recent public pronouncements of prominent Democrats, that inspired Orwell's comments.

Orwell also makes this interesting observation. Regarding Burnham's prediction near the end of World War II of an inevitable Russian world victory, Orwell remarks:

Burnham is predicting A CONTINUATION OF THE THING THAT IS HAPPENING. Now the tendency to do this is not simply a bad habit, like inaccuracy or exaggeration, which one can correct by taking thought. It is a major mental disease, and its roots lie partly in cowardice and partly in the worship of power, which is not fully separable from cowardice.

This seems to me to be an adequate description of what has happened in Congress. Early in the war, when American victory seemed inevitable, nearly everyone wanted to jump on the bandwagon and to share in the glory. Only the principled anti-war people stood apart from the herd. Then, when things began to get tough, first Democrats and then Republicans executed a volte face, not unlike that of Burnham during WWII, and by demanding an exit strategy, are doing their best to make their pessimistic judgment a reality.

Why the change? Democrats feared being blamed for a failed war and wanted out of their early commitment -- hence the lie that "Bush lied." This was a cowardly attempt to shift all blame for their actions onto the President and to absolve themselves of all responsibility for the war. Then, in the wake of off-year elections in which Democrats successfully beat back challenges in two states, Republicans panicked. Hence the "sense of the Senate" resolution demanding a quick [prior to the next election cycle] resolution of the Iraq engagement. In all of this pessimism and cynical cowardice [the fear of being blamed for an unpopular war] prevail. Orwell was right. We are now seeing a textbook example of triumphant pessimism, cowardice, and the cynical pursuit of power.

At least Dubya understands that power is to be exercised for the good of mankind, not just to name federal buildings and bridges after yourself.

Actually, it is probably worth your while to read the entire short essay. Here it is. Note particularly his observations on why intellectuals are usually more wrong than the general public and why they seem to be addicted to apocalyptic visions.

RELATED:

Murtha's speech is being featured on alJazeera [here].