Crossovers

I see there's some sort of Hit and Run / Corner cross-mojination going on… and now I can't get that episode of the Danny Thomas Show where they go to Mayberry and meet Andy Griffith out of my head.

Anyway, pending specification of my "stolen bases," I suppose I'll reply to Jonah Goldberg's comments. First, have there been folks who overstated how bad PATRIOT was? Sure… but do we have to wade through that mire before talking about a set of particular arguments? If one gets to be a hawk without having to constantly defend "invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity," I think its fair to say civil libertarians aren't required to stand by every wild statement made by someone who doesn't like PATRIOT.

Second, I don't know whether the term "fifth columnist" has been applied to PATRIOT skeptics in particular, and didn't mean to imply that. I was just taking a frivolous shot at an annoying phrase I've seen bandied about the blogosphere to describe those bad Americans who are less than totally sanguine about the administration's approach to the war on terror.

Oh… and I wouldn't characterize the original piece as "attacking" Rich Lowry. A vigorous foot massage, maybe, but an attack?