i love you, tad brennan.

from tpm cafe:

What do you get when you combine a rejection of Clinton-era complacency with a rejection of the heroic fantasies of the National Greatness neo-cons?

Well, you get outward looking, internationalist technocrats. You get an America that takes seriously its responsibility to the world, and fulfills that responsibility via mechanisms like Kyoto, GATT, the UN, the Peace Corps, and so on. It opens its markets to foreign goods, and its universities to foreign students. It stops supporting thugs in foreign countries for the sake of cheap oil, and instead starts trying to reduce its energy consumption so as not to dominate the world market. It works to create more international mechanisms, and to foster a respect for international law.

All boring stuff--no shock and awe, no martial music. Just managerial, policy wonk stuff. But incredibly important. Important for the whole world. And part of what could still make America a light to the nations.

In other words, you get National Greatness without the heroic nonsense.