This was going to be a comment, but it's longer than I'd like it to be, so it's a whole post.

Ned writes:

"Also, Cindy Sheehan said that she herself would gladly have gone to war if it were for a noble cause; e.g., Afghanistan."

Actually, Mark, Cindy Sheehan is against the war in Afghanistan as well. Here's the link to her discussion on Hardball with Chris Matthews: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8972147/

Also, I have never heard Karl Rove describe a person as unpatriotic. I have never hear Pres. Bush describe someone as unpatriotic. I have never heard Donald Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, McClellan, Fleischer...you get the point. Past or present staffers, I have not heard the word "unpatriotic" uttered once.

I think the real situation is that whenever someone questions anyone on the left, their knee-jerk reaction is to say "How dare you call me unpatriotic," when in fact the original statement was never made.

Ned's right. I thought that I had heard Cindy Sheehan mention that she was in favor of the war with Afghanistan, but her appearance on Hardball suggests otherwise. I happen to disagree with her on this point.

And, regarding Karl Rove, cf. his comments made June 22, 2005: "Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers. Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war." This is a complete revision of history that would make O'Brien proud. Does he honestly think our memories are so short? Everyone, post 9/11, was totally willing to do anything to find whoever was responsible for the attacks, including pass ridiculous legislation like the USA-PATRIOT Act. I remember politics post-9/11, and I was surprised at how genial and united everyone was. Rove was attempting to re-write the history of 9/11 to suit his own purposes; namely, the thesis that liberals are pacifists who would rather talk problems out, while conservatives are willing to take action. His suggestion, of course, is that liberals somehow like terrorists, whereas conservatives don't like them. Oh, and there's that whole Valerie Plame thing.