We are in a box, know something needs to change, but cannot quite overcome inertia.

Isaac Newton, genius above all geniuses, described inertia in this manner:  if it is not moving, it is not going to move; if it is moving, it is not going to stop easily.

Inertia affects our personal and professional lives alike.  While I am reclining on my sofa enjoying a PGA golf tournament on the television, I am not inclined to mow the lawn, even though the grass is growing faster than the pace of play in the golf match.

This week I spoke to a former colleague, an executive in the Executive Branch, and asked what was the biggest challenge affecting his ability to achieve mission.  He answered with one word:  inertia.

We can all easily become complacent with our routines.  Whether or not they uplift or put is in a rut, they are known, a component of our environment, and provide a measure of perverse comfort.

Why do we seem to repeat our mistakes?  Why do weaknesses in our government programs and policies go unnoticed?  This is a corollary principle of inertia.  We understand the system, human dynamics, and organizational realities, and we adapt.  We know how our organizations work, what they like, and what they will tolerate – or not.  They do not like to hear that something is awry and entails major retooling.  Problems were not (supposed to be) part of the original plan.

Such undertakings require overcoming an inordinate amount of inertia.  In some cases it involve years, maybe decades.  That is why this showdown over ending the war in Iraq is so interesting and important to watch.  How effectively can this be done?  We are not only fighting politics, we are battling Newton’s Laws of Motion.

Now that the War has been in motion for four years, how are the brakes to be applied, especially when what is happening “on the ground” is not following a desirable war script?  Where is the Peace Treaty?  Who will sign it?  When will the armistice be celebrated?

Throw in a few more ingredients, just to make our stew more appetizing.  Yesterday the Democratic presidential candidates conducted one of 297 debates they will hold before the next election in November 2000forever.

What we have now is a cacophonous mess.  When electioneering bangs up against inertia, the result is always more heat than light.  There will be too much positioning and politicking to provide a needed positive push to move us forward.

Our nation is stuck.  For the next 21 months (until January, 2009) and then some afterwards as the new administration acclimatizes itself to Washington, we will be debating and deflecting each other’s arguments about a myriad of subjects.  As a result, we will be distracted from the real foe:  inertia.

Pity the poor civil servants who must work through the chorus of carping and attempt to execute our government policies, assuming that our leaders can agree upon and articulate them.

With all this confusion furiously flying about, we will respond to our bewilderment predictably.