An appraisal of Andrew Sullivan's inexcusable rhetoric by Spinsanity. As they point out in calmer terms than I attempted to, his rhetoric is extremely dangerous especially in a democracy which prides itself on debate and the ability to dissent. The assertion that dissent from the US's course of action by its own people is tantamount to aiding the terrorists is unpatriotic in its most pure form. For once you determine that those who oppose the US's policy are terrorists themselves, you must decide what that policy is. Is policy whatever the president suggests?

A good center for this question is the attempt by Bob Novak to turn dissent into partisanship. Novak is no Sullivan and at this point is simply engaging in his own partisan bickering, but perhaps Sullivan can enlighten us daily as to what is and is not the US policy so that we might not mount a fifth column (commit treason) by voicing our opinions. Back to Novak, I got a kick out of his assertion that the partisans are hidering our effort because they don't support a tax cut to stimulate the economy. That's right Bob, since the last one was so effective. Even the democrats' rebate did next to nill. I wonder when the pundits will address the issue of long-term interest rates.
- posted by levinson @ 9/20/2001 07:10:00 AM