Sullivan: So they engaged in a campaign of anti-anti-terrorism, the position of the coward and the sophist, encapsulated by Al Gore's bitter rant of last week. While not opposing war itself, they opposed every single decision that could make war possible, demanding conditions and timetables that would effectively gut any assault on, say, Iraq.

Sure sounds to me like "opposed every single decision that could make war possible" refers to opposition to government policy, and by no stretch of the imagination "anti-Americanism".

Tom: Supporting values, nations, and political systems actively hostile to America and its values and political institutions, while deriding the latter, would seem to qualify as anti-American, and if patriotism is defined as support of one's own nation, or more specifically the professed values of that nation, then the lack of that would seem to qualify as not being patriotic.

You really have a blind spot here, Tom!

Are you saying that war on Iraq is an American value? Since when is a doctrine of preemptive war an American value? Do you seriously believe that questioning the wisdom of a preemptive attack is equivalent to supporting Saddam Hussein, and is an anti-American act? (For the record, I question the wisdom of a preemptive attack, and I despise Saddam Hussein...how does that fit into your binary worldview?)

Is George Bush an American political institution?

You're still confusing opposition to government policies with opposition to America. It just ain't so! I'm just not buying the right's attempts to portray honest political disagreement as treason.

--Robert