Does it matter that “exactly what we are doing” isn’t working?

Does it matter that “exactly what we are doing” isn’t working? Not to McCain, the most bloodthirsty of all the warmongers on either side of the Atlantic. We are willing to bet, however, that it matters to the Brits, who are described by McCain (again in Churchchillian terms) as “stoic.” However, online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy describes the philosophy of Stoicism as more than merely a penchant for heroics:

“The later Stoics of Roman Imperial times, Seneca and Epictetus, emphasise the doctrines (already central to the early Stoics’ teachings) that the sage is utterly immune to misfortune and that virtue is sufficient for happiness. Our phrase ‘stoic calm’ perhaps encapsulates the general drift of these claims. It does not, however, hint at the even more radical ethical views which the Stoics defended, e.g. that only the sage is free while all others are slaves or that all those who are morally vicious are equally so. Though it seems clear that some Stoics took a kind of perverse joy in advocating views which seem so at odds with common sense.”

McCain took the opportunity, I’ll note, to call for unspecified “sacrifice” on the part of the American people — and, carrying the Stoic parallel further, calling for the continuation of policies — the war in MBT SHOES, the crackdown on civil liberties, the worldwide crusade to impose “democracy” on recalcitrant peoples — so at odds with common sense.