These Fires

(Sounds like "cease fire.")

I recently read about a scientific study into hurt and causation and memory and vengeance. Subjects did simple excercises that yielded patterns of behavior. "Zap her as much as she zapped you." Like that. Subjects inevitably escalated, and blamed the other one for it. Similiarly, eye-witnesses have been proven often to suck. Similiarly, I try not to use the details or dynamics of some prior conversation as zinging evidence during a current argument with the girlfriend.
I don't trust Condi Rice. I do depend on her to be my Secretary of State, because she is that. (Lucky me!) So I am not sure what to make of news analysis such as I read in the Times today. It's funny, giving the benefit of the doubt to an extremely distasteful politician. Unfortunately, the account of the meeting in Europe was not nearly vivid enough for me to cheer anyone. The debate there cannot presently be judged by me. Neither can I take it as encouraging. (Lucky, again!)

It's not hard to believe that the Europeans preaching cease-fire are being too status quo. Even easier to think the current administration is being fatally unrealistic. But you knew all that.

There was another half to this post, but then I read some more news reports and decided what I had written was inaccurate and unhelpful. Deleted it without prejudice.

Wow, blogging politics is hard.