Mea Culpa

In light of Karl Rove’s comments Wednesday evening regarding the response of Democrats to 9/11, isn’t it time for those of us on the left-of-center to finally fess up and take our lumps? Let’s face it, fellow lefties -- Mr. Rove has once again cleaned our clocks and taken us to school.

After all, while conservatives saw “the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war”, what were we doing? Sitting on our huge, tax-lovin' asses, doing nothing but coming up with ways to provide “therapy and understanding” for the September 11 attacks.

I mean, how else do you explain that while Republicans were taking care of business, the only response by congressional Democrats was to propose the “Jihadist Bed and Breakfast Discount Act of 2002”? Or what about John Kerry’s thoughtless “Mint On Every Terrorist's Pillow Following Turndown Service” campaign pledge during the presidential election? Or the “What Do You Say We Don’t Inspect All Cargo Containers” rider to last year’s farm bill?

I mean, come on! While Rove and the Bush administration were working hard at building a case against that well-known 20th hijacker Saddam Hussein and burning the midnight oil coming up with all those creatively contradictory ways to persuade the country to go to war in Iraq, what were we doing? Well, I’m afraid ol’ Karl got it right once again. Because worms that we are, while they were all about getting in peoples’ grills, we were all about showing “moderation and restraint”. So sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I think it’s time we finally faced up to the fact that, to paraphrase Curt Schilling, Moderation and Restraint are just dancers in a nightclub. Really, really bad dancers.