Such action should be taken only through a crucible of painful deliberation. We have a president who thinks things through, who is slow to act and quick to consider all ideas, especially opposing ones. His delay is at his own political peril, yet that doesn’t seem to be his primary concern. As days pass, policy makers, military experts and political leaders are brainstorming options other than a military strike to bring Syria in line. Politicians on both sides are putting forth arguments both for and against intervention.

The effort may not yield a good plan, or any plan, but the effort, in and of itself, to think things through before acting, and then think things through again, is what makes our government different from and better than others.

The president who was bold enough to launch the attack against Osama bin Laden is strong enough to bear the weight of this process. We all have a front-row seat to democracy in action.

Copyright © 2013 Randi Kreiss. Randi can be reached at randik3@aol.com.