Karl Rove -- Two 4-letter words

As a pro-war Democrat. The New Republic -- Tom Friedman -- Hilary Clinton loving type, there is no civil way to respond to Karl Rove or to the administration that needs him to say these things. Rove has put himself beyond the realm where a civil response is required.

However, what appears to be emerging as the standard response -- we all wanted to go after the bad guys, as long as we have the right bad guys -- seems equally unhelpful.

The right response is to remind everyone what the conservative response to 9/11 was -- first, to see it as God's response to freedom of sexual choice, including homosexuality and abortion rights (i.e. --terrorist bombers good -- secularism a sin) and second, to circle the wagon around Saudi Arabia and deflect blame away from Saudi Arabia at all costs (fly Saudi Arabian officals out of the country at taxpayer expense. Let the Saudi Arabian -- Osama -- go free even though we know where he is, accuse Iraq of doing those things that Saudi Arabia was doing). Third -- to blame the attacks on the fact that we had too many civil liberties (no one could have written the PATRIOT Act that fast. It was already in the drawer awaiting something, anything, that made its passage possible).

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 -- liberals had the interests of Americans at heart. Liberals understood the goodness of Americans, and the evil of the attack. Conservatives blamed their fellow Americans, and absolved the real terrorists at every turn. Since 9/11 -- nothing has changed