The unspoken liberal assumption.

Nancy Pelosi's off playing Secretary of State with Syria's President Bashar Assad.

Tom Lantos provides this footnote:

Rep. Tom Lantos . . . , the head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee who was in Pelosi's delegation, said the meeting "reinforced sharply" the potential benefits of talking to Syria. "This is only the beginning of our constructive dialogue with Syria and we hope to build on this visit," he told reporters.

Is there ever a moment in the space-time continuum as experienced by leftists when it is possible to say that such a great deal of "dialogue" has taken place (and homework has been completed) that it is possible to reach a definitive conclusion that further dialogue with someone is a waste of time?

Can a leftist ever say about "dialogue" something like, "We're done. Further talk is useless. Let's resort to force to educate this missing link between a catfish and Godzilla"?

Answer: "What planet did you come from, Hoss?"

No, there is never a moment when absolute faith in "negotiation" and "dialogue" is unwarranted.

"Pelosi meets Syrian president." By Zeina Karam, Associated Press, 4/4/07.