[andyfox]

The usual mixture of half-truths, faulty comparisons, and bravado that passes for political analysis in the post-9/11 era. I am always amused when I see that "Reagan ended the Cold War." Usually, the phrasing is that Reagan won the Cold War. It is akin to saying Keith Foulke won the World Series because he got the last batter to ground out. In fact, it was the American statesmen who Reagan always accused of cowardice, appeasement, and malfeasance who won the Cold War. By the time Reagan came into office, the Soviet Union was broke both economically and structurally.

And, of couse, the fight against the "perfidious crusade" by "fanatic Muslims" is equated with the United States' invasion of Iraq. Didn't we learn our lessons from the appeasement of Hitler? The right is correctly incensed when Bush is ridiculously compared, by some on the far left, with Hitler, but sees nothing wrong with using the comparison between a prostrate and hemmed in Saddam Hussien with him, the better to deflect any criticism or move toward anything that smacks of tolerance or accommodation.