"You're spineless," yell progressives.

"You make decisions on purely political grounds," snipes the mainstream media.

No love. True, Democrats did cave to President Bush in a particularly craven manner when they signed off on his drastic expansion in warrantless spying on American citizens. And they've yet to summon the backbone to meaningfully confront him on the Iraq War.

But, though you wouldn't know it from listening to most progressives or the mainstream media over the...