On the subject of public opinion that is just the problem Iraq faces. I know the ordinary pundit of the left seldom reads anything but the NYT and the Washington Post but he or she may profit from reading Jose Ortega y Gasset's The Revolt of the Masses. On page 127 of the paperback edition Ortega y Gasset in 1930 nailed the problem in Iraq which is:
"...What happens is at the times public opinion is nonexistent. A society divided into discordant groups, with the forces of public opinion canceling one another out, leaves no room for a ruling power to be constituted. And as "nature abhors a vacuum" the empty space left by the absence of public opinion is filled by brute force...
"...forthright, commonplace; there can be no rule in opposition to public opinion."
I do hope West Point still has Machiavelli on their reading list and can only hope they might add Jose Ortega y Gasset.
In Baghdad we must restore order, overcome the brute force being used by all parties and find a common public opinion sufficient to permit orderly rule. Leaving things to drift will ennoble savagery and pillage as an alternative to civilized living.
I would also point out that we are close to having a similar, though so far non-violent, situation in this country.
Between the constantly changing and dangerous posturing of the democrats (not to mention their lies), the angry rhetoric from the left and the far right, and the media's total lack of responsibility in coverage of the war and the news in general, American public opinion is fractured, confused, and (in many cases) simply withdrawing from the discussion (witness me and my sudden interest in cooking shows).
I don't know how to wrest control of the podium from the left, but we have to figure out a way to frame the discussion so that we aren't always either on the defensive or shouting in anger.