Same Drum, different beat.

Kevin Drum, the notorious CalPundit, has a new home over at the Washington Monthly, where he's blogging as the Political Animal, which should provide reason aplenty to adjust your favorites list.

He's off to a great start, as you'd expect. Looking through Dick Cheney's Reagan Library rant, he gleaned this tidbit. "And we are applying the Bush doctrine," said the veep. "Any person or government that supports, protects, or harbors terrorists is complicit in the murder of the innocent, and will be held to account."

Except, as Kevin points out, "...the idea that the current administration is applying the "Bush doctrine" is palpably untrue. Aside from toppling the Taliban, an action supported by enormous majorities worldwide, we haven't gone after a single country that "supports, protects, or harbors" terrorists. Iraq had probably the most tenuous ties to terrorism of any state in the Middle East, while Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Syria have remained untouched. There may be very good reasons for this, mind you, but the Bush doctrine is nonetheless little more than hot air."

"Palpably untrue". As in 'a lie'. As in Cheney, like the rest of the Bushco crew, is a liar.

Kevin's sentiments echo a recent Paul Krugman piece, in which the NYT columnist pointed out that "Polls suggest that a reputation for being tough on terror is just about the only remaining political strength George Bush has. Yet this reputation is based on image, not reality. The truth is that Mr. Bush, while eager to invoke 9/11 on behalf of an unrelated war, has shown consistent reluctance to focus on the terrorists who actually attacked America, or their backers in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan."

This is one reason that I'm a bit more sanquine about Kerry's November prospects than some folks seem to be. The entire Bush campaign seems to be focused on ramping up fear and then counting on the resulting insecurity to convince people to stay the course. What's already evident to millions, though, and is going to become clearer to millions more as the year goes by, is that Bush has failed in nearly every instance to effectively confront the actual source of the very real threats we face. To the contrary, he has pursued policies which have increased those threats, and left us increasingly isolated in a world where we need all the friends we can get.

They're liars, and they think most Americans are so dumb they'll fall for it.

I won't say that the electorate has never let me down, but I'm banking on 'em this time.