Intelligent Conservatives

It would be a joy to debate Rick Brookhiser:

I thought Cheney's comment was foolish. You should argue that you will do a better job than your opponent in fighting terror (if not, why run?). But a better job can only mean putting up the best defense possible, and addressing the root causes--i.e., toppling or hogtying dictatorships. This will thwart many planned attacks, and weaken the enemy generally. But it is never possible to prevent all attacks. We are all marked men and women, and will be for the rest of our lives. We need manly stoicism, not bluster.

Indeed. One of the Republican attacks on John Kerry's acceptance speech---Kerry's promise to respond to any attack swiftly and decisively---was not a demonstration of strength or resolve, but a cheap hubristic sneer. Either they think it would be wrong for the president to respond to an attack with force (which is obviously not what they meant), or they are suggesting that re-electing Bush will ensure that there are no attacks on US soil ever. It's worse than absurd.