Billmon is right to see Rove's attacks on Democrats as part of a broader rhetorical strategy (and, by the way, Dean's attacks on Republicans are not that different in technique, but dramatically different in theme, not to mention authority) to cast Democrats as fundamentally anti-American. Needless to say, Rove's position should be taken as the President's, and that of the Republican Party, unless it is repudiated clearly and quickly.
The question becomes whether the Democrats respond vigorously in kind or whether there's a possibility, though I admit that I might be dreaming, that continuing to call for rational discussion, inter-party dialogue, and solutions instead of slogans (and, ironically, that's a great slogan) might resonate sufficiently with the American people that a political shift might be possible.
Unfortunately, there are structural issues as well as discourse ones.
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