CLOSING RANKS OR CLOSING DOWN?

President Obama's Afghanistan plan can be debated -- and it will; he can be compared to FDR -- and he will. (SunTimes Dec 2). But here's where both the debate and the comparison end. When FDR called Americans to close ranks on December 8, 1941, we did. Today our ranks are so rankled, we have weakened our chances for any sort of victory.

The critics say our economy and unemployed can't bear the strain (in 1941 our economy was just as fragile and our unemployment was 20%, double today's). The critics say our sour politics and public mood can't bear the strain (in 1941 Republicans hated FDR just as much as they seem to Obama), The critics say our people are weary from eight years of war (in 1941 Americans were not only weary but exhausted from 12 years of the Great Depression).

None of this proves Obama's risky plan is moral or smart or viable. But it is to say the critics need a better cop-out for not closing ranks behind a commander-in-chief who has no love for war. There was a pop song right after Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941: "We Did it Before and We Can Do it Again."

The difference is FDR's call was the day after we were attacked. Obama's call is 3000 days later. Americans have always been known for being long on courage but short on memory...!