From The S.F. Chronicle
By Ruben Navarrette Jr

Former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson has forgotten more about politics than some people will ever know. So when Simpson, who served on the Iraq Study Group, predicted last week that the group’s final report would be blasted by both those on the right and on the left, I waited for the shelling to begin.

I didn’t wait long. Neoconservatives blasted the ISG report as stupid, defeatist, unrealistic and — as outgoing U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., put it — “a prescription for surrender.” Meanwhile, liberals were disappointed that the group’s report didn’t go far enough and that it missed the chance to call for what the left considers the only option: an immediate, total withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

These are the folks — both on the left and on the right — who Simpson likes to call “100 percenters.” Instead of settling for half a loaf, they hold out for a bread truck. The fact that the extremes don’t find much value in the commission co-chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Rep. Lee Hamilton is a good sign to the rest of us of just how valuable it was. And not simply for the reasons that everyone talks about. Yes, this was an inspiring bipartisan venture at a time when the political parties no longer seem capable of co-existing in the same sandbox. Yes, the report provides a tough-medicine assessment of how our Iraq policy wound up in the ditch, and gives us a clear vision for what may turn out to be our last best hope of getting out.

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