Pushback Pt. I

So the news of the past week, beginning, coincidentally of course, on Veterans' Day, is that the administration is taking a much harder line attacking their critics who accuse them of dishonesty in making the case for the war in Iraq. Fred Kaplan does a thorough job dissecting Bush's pushback speech here, and Josh Marshall lays the preliminaries on Cheney's pushback speech here. Clearly, something important has shifted when an administration that had previously dismissed out of hand and with no further comment assertions of dishonest build-up to the war suddenly starts an aggressive counter-offensive.

What's the explanation? Someone within the White House must feel that public disapproval of the war and of the president is nearing if not already beyond a critical mass, and there is no choice left but to fight back. That's right, Rove is back.