Glenn, you are absolutely right that there is a powerful core that wants to keep the Iraq war going.

But you fail to address why, other than to imply a pigheaded refusal to admit mistakes in judgment. Clearly that explanation alone is insufficient.

I suppose that there are any number of additional factors, ranging from legitimate policy differences to self-deception, but surely you can't ignore the elephant in the room: lucre for special interests and their handlers.

Wherever there is a government that controls tax dollars or can dole out provide other favors, there are special interests that are trying to manipulate government for their own advantage - and politicians and influence-peddlers trying to get a piece of whatever can be made available. In the case of the Iraq war, it is very easy to see the pervasive affects of these corrupting influences.

While there may be a "small but powerful group" trying to control Administration policy, they are just the tip of the iceberg of the special interests involved - and a trillion dollars or so certainly draws them out. A couple of recent commentary pieces are indicative, I think, of the overall problem:

http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/international-news/portfolio/2007/03/29/Weapons-of-Mass-Production

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/column.aspx?UrlTitle=wolfies_bank&ns=PatrickJBuchanan&dt=04/17/2007&page=2

Special interests always wish to manipulate government for their own purposes. Their efforts become easier the farther removed those making decisions about the use of government are from public scrutiny (secrecy, press etc), the bigger government is, and the more control is concentrated in one party. Our tribal human nature makes us always susceptible to claims that we need ever MORE defense to deal with ever more threats, so the defense establishment is one area that has continued to grow and which the Republicans have done a good job of capturing, for both political and financial gain. But the problem, which has reached seriously levels (as Chalmers Johnson chronicles so well) is not solely a Republican one.

Even as we pay attention to the manipulation and abuse of government by small groups for their special interests and lucre, we should not ignore the powerful corporations that also benefit - and that we will face the same problems even under a Democratic administration. Each Congressman wants pork to take home, and wants others to feel the pain of hard decisions to limit spending, and the defense establishment has really tapped into that. Even if we can stanche the flow on disastrous foreign wars, we will see constant pressures to direct the pork spigots elsewhere.

When polling shows the Glorious American public believes the MSM is biased to the left and not the right, Glenn rails against their idiocy and wonders how they get through their daily lives with such an immense talent for misjudgment. When polling shows the Glorious American public believes Saddam was linked to 9/11, Glenn endlessly decries them as moronic cattle incapable of intelligent thought. When polling shows that the Glorious American public's opinion has shifted toward pulling out of Iraq... hold everything, we can't just ignore the "well-considered and pervasive beliefs" of the Glorious American public!

The only solution is for the Democrats to cut funding for the war. Have they got the guts to do it knowing how the Republicans will use it against them? They should have faith in the good sense of the American public...

For the time being, the Glorious American public's opinion is one that you and Glenn are willing to classify as "good sense", but my they are a fickle lot, aren't they.

This powerful group is (hopefully) seeing the end of its reign. Should we have seen this coming? I guess many of us are guilty of a kind of complacence and/or naivete that comes from thinking that most people are "good" by nature. Boy, has my opinion changed on that. People are unpredictable, and must not be blindly trusted in positions of power-- for history has shown that oftentimes corrupt people seek to attain power, and that "good" people are oftentimes corrupted by it. The checks and balances afforded to us are not written forever in stone, nor are they defended by all Americans. A true patriot, in my view, will defend the Constitution and NOT the small group heading the current government that has merely defended its own self-serving interests.

Their well organized and funded "phone tree" can take a few buzz words and propagate it throughout the country in an instant. The neocons have been the most cohesive, well managed political regime to hit our country.

The neocon propaganda machine can take a complex issue and whittle it down to a sound bite -- something the moderates and progressives have never mastered. This small, but elite group is powerful because what it says is true, despite clear evidence to the contrary and polls which show the majority of Americans know better.

Mr. Bush, their figurehead is the perfect example. He is in office against the will of the people. His policies have been unpopular, yet he is always able to muster up a few good old boys to applaud at his well managed appearances.

It is their propaganda machine that has convinced many Americans that this war is like a football game. It can be "won," and "victory" can be ours. I don't think even THEY know what winning or victory in Iraq means.

These are frightening people who have challenged the integrity of our government structure by taking control against the will of the people and remaining unchecked.

It is unfortunate that the neocons have kept the moderates and the progressives on the defensive and in fear of the almighty machine that they don't fight back with any teeth. The American people must put an unprecidented amount of pressure on Congress to act decisively without wincing. We must also appear in great mass to produce such numbers at the polls in each election that there leaves no room for close calls or manipulation. There must be a clear mandate from the voters and their representatives in Washington, the likes of which this country has never seen. We must take back our country.