My silence earlier today was manyfold, including having to re-format and insomnia problems tha I was trying to solve by reading more. I wound up sleeping VERY late and I'm sure I wouldn't be sitting here tonight if the gig hadn't been cancelled. Anyway...

Citizens' Rent is a site I stop by every now and again just to see how the Left's talking point du jour is playing with the moveon.org types. I wouldn't give them the traffic, except that they do show pretty clearly, with their own words, just how fucked up their own point of view is. It's both funny and frustrating at the very same time.

Their Bush-hate is so pronounced, they actually lump his moderate ass in with us conservatives, who are honest with the world about where and when we agree or disagree with the President rather than blindly toe the party line without real consideration for the facts or our own beliefs. It's as if these people are programmed to believe that anyone not a Donk is evil or something.

While it's healthy and good to distrust politicians and government, it is wrong to make false accusations and accuse officials of wrongdoing when they have followed the rules. Furthermore, it is wrong to wrongly accuse your opponent of wrongdoing while at the same time refusing to acknowledge the wrongdoing of those on your side.

Of course, it does get kind of funny reading this stuff, and it does make you wonder if maybe it's a phony blog or something, like the Alito blog I brought up recently.

Anyway, here's a little "Fisk" action, just in case these people are serious.

So Karl Rove says that Democrats have a "pre-9/11" view of the world. (WaPo article) He says that likes it's a bad thing. But there's something to recommend in a pre-9/11 mindset.

Something to recommend in a pre-9/11 mindset? THIS I gotta see ...

Pre-9/11, we hadn't invaded a country that didn't have WMD on the basis of inaccurate intelligence and hyped threats.

First of all, until I see decisive proof to the contrary, I'm not buying that So-Damn-Insane didn't have any WMD at all. There is considerable evidence that he moved his stash out of the country and/or hid it very well; and we know for a fact that he had used them on Iraqi civilians. That's not even touching on the many ways that asshole was supporting terrorists and those who would do harm to Americans.

Pre-9/11, countries that represent real threats - Iran and N. Korea - were afraid of our military might.

And they still are. Do you think they're talking shit to bring on a fight? As if they could win. Either or both of those governments are toast if they force us to fight, and they KNOW it. So do you, I think, if you have any sense at all. Even if they aren't afraid of us, do you REALLY think either of them has a chance in a war with us?

Pre-9/11, we were the legitimate champions of human rights and the role model to the world on how to treat those detained in the course of war - we thought the Geneva Conventions mattered.

And we still are. Especially when you compare us to our enemy, who kills innnocents on purpose and does so in a particularly brutal fashion.

Pre-9/11, we had robust alliances with nations across the world, who cooperated with us on international issues that threatened us all.

We still do, though the allies have changed. Do you really beleive that the right thing to do should be determined by who is willing to stand with us? Get real.

Pre-9/11, we had an executive branch that seemed to believe it was subject to the law and not above it.

Yup, for about 9 months ... and as far as anyone knows, has continued as such. Our president's predeceesor committed perjury, with virtually no consequence at all. Then there were the other things that he WASN'T caught doing. It amazes me that the Left so conveniently leaves this stuff out.

Pre-9/11, civil liberties mattered and fear wasn't sufficient reason to undermine the foundational principles of our country.

They still do, and will continue to do so, at least to the same degree or better than with the previous administration. Civil liberties were thrown to the wind in the 30's, for the most part, and no Democrat is in a position to flap on about that.

Pre-9/11, Americans trusted that the checks and balances built into our democratic system would protect them from on over-reaching executive branch.

Unless you're talking about a Senate that refuses to enforce perjury laws in an impeachment hearing, courts that make up law as they go, or a president using the IRS to harass and/or destroy his enemies.

Pre-9/11, we could criticize the government without being called treasonous or unpatriotic.

Yeah except when President Clinton blamed Tim McVeigh on conservatives. Guess you forgot about that one, huh.

Pre-9/11, we could meet peacefully to discuss how to fight the policies of the government without being spied upon and labeled a credible threat to the security of the United States.

And we still can, provided we're not making or taking phone calls to or from terrorists. I would hope the Left isn't THAT anti-American.

Before 9/11, we believed that a national tragedy like the 9/11 attacks would unite us and not divide us. We believed that we were a country with courage and conviction and not a country full of fear. We believed that we were a nation of principles that would guide us and unite us in times of threat. We believed in the power of the law to protect us and our way of life.

Before 9/11, we naively believed things like 9/11 couldn't happen. WE WERE united by it, at least until the Donks decided to look for ways to use it to hurt conservatives. We ARE a country with courage and conviction. Even if you don't like the President, can you really say he's handling this in a way that is demonstrative of being "full of fear"? We ARE a nation of principles that guide us in times of threat. Just because you are afraid doesnt' mean you have to be, and just because you are afraid doesn't mean you would be any less so with your guy in the White House.

We believed in the power of the law to protect us and our way of life.

You wouldn't know the American way of life if it stepped up and punched you in the eye.

It's not 9/11 that destroyed those beliefs, that put replaced courage with fear, that made us a "might makes right" nation instead of a nation of laws. It's not 9/11 that made civil liberties expendable, that made disagreement with the government treason, that weakened our authority in the world, that exhausted our military and cost so many lives in a part of the world that had nothing to do with 9/11.

We are a nation of laws whether you see it that way or not. "Might makes right" is not what's being applied here. It's defense of our nation and our way of life. Your "surrender monkey" buddies are full of shit. 9/11 didn't make civil liberties expendable, the Raw Deal and the Great Socialism did. Disagreement with the government is not treason, but aiding and giving comfort to the enemy is. When you undermiune the war effort, you give aid and comfort to those who wish to hurt you, thus committing treason. Maybe we should send you over to hang out with them? I think ArmyBryan would disagree with your analysis of the military. I'll definitely take his word over yours. If you think Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, you are naive. At the very least, he fed the mindset that such actions would promote the goals of jihadists in the world.

That wasn't 9/11. That was Bush. That was the Republicans. And if signing on to the Bush agenda is what it takes to qualify as having a "post-9/11 mindset", I'll stick to pre-9/11. I'll choose courage over fear, liberty over safety, law over force, and truth over expediency. I choose to continue to believe in what makes this country different - and I'll fight for it. That's my pre-9/11 mindset.

Stick to pre-9/11 if you want. Live in the past if it suits you. Be a walking breathing talking point for Weird Howard if that's what you want. Pretty convenient, huh? Let the Donks do your thinking for you. However, choosing courage over fear is post-9/11 and pro-Bush. Truth over expediency is conservative, and I'd say our liberal Republican President is considerably more conservative than you.

Signing on to the Bush agenda has nothing to do with the post-9/11 mindset. Anyone who's read this blog for more than a week knows I'm not a "signer" of the Bush agenda. Liberal laws like the Patriot Act are more along the lines of the things your side has advocated than ours.

And what makes this country different and great is freedom, which your side has dismally failed to fight for for 100 years. So you can take your pre-9/11 mindset and shove it up your ass.

RWR