Spencer'd

A reader dissents:

To briefly comment on your characterization of Spencer Ackerman as a 'pathological pessimist': may I just remind you that in his blog Iraq'd, and thereafter, Mr. Ackerman demonstrated the kind of intelligent foresight that was all but missing in the governing institutions of the US of that time?
The issues that he worried about were rising instability, the excessive focus on taking out a few individuals (especially Saddam), sectarianism in politics and the constitutional conventions and most particularly the rise of the militias - exactly the things now most endangering the security of Iraq. He has been optimistic about the role of Ayatollah Sistani and the long term (in)effectiveness of Zarqawi, and has been neutral on things like the disastrous rebuilding effort (to the best of my recollection). All this at a time, when many, (including you yourself, as you have admitted) have at times been too quick to reach for rose-tinted glasses.
In short, loth though I am to engage in dispute over meaning of words with a master of prose such as yourself, might I suggest you scratch 'pathological pessimist' and replace with 'balanced realist'?