All rights reserved. It's probably too late now to wish that our national leaders and the media would go back to concentrating on empty fluff and sleazy, partisan investigations into the sexual habits of middle-aged politicians. The last few weeks have been a dramatic example of the old warning to be careful what you pray for. Just when we'd given up on government or the media ever again turning their attention to serious issues, we are suddenly overwhelmed with matters of life and death. About the only thing the bombing of Kosovo and the president's sex life have in common is a quick trigger for adolescent gratification.
Bombing immediately makes a president look tough and decisive.
It seems so easy and almost risk-free politically. American bombers can get in and out very quickly without anybody ever getting hurt, at least not anybody we have to look in the eye. The problem with easy answers, of course, is they quickly become very complicated. In a matter of days, we went from posturing against the brutality of yet another bad guy in the world to standing on the brink of sacrificing the lives of our own sons and daughters for years to come in an ancient and seemingly endless conflict. Perhaps we need to reconsider the popular presidential practice of bombing for peace.