Several readers have observed something that I should have noted had I not been in vent mode. The opposite of what Greenwald and Sullivan is saying is far closer to the truth. So long as you hate Bush or attack him, you’re basically ok in the eyes of liberals. Often, when a conservative goes after Bush Andrew Sullivan will say something like “finally, a conservative with integrity” — the implication (repeated again and again) is that if someone doesn’t see things Andrew’s way, he lacks integrity.

As for actual liberals, I get email all the time from Kosites and the like saying, “Listen to Buchanan!” Or “Bob Barr’s right!”

It used to be that abortion, affirmative action etc defined who liberals would celebrate. Now, all it takes is going after Bush.

Update: A reader alerts me to the fact that Greenwald’s larger argument gets short-shrift from Andrew’s excerpt. I haven’t read it. But the complaint seems to be that Greenwald’s point is more complex than what is reflected in Sullivan’s excerpt. That may be the case. But as I think I made clear, my objection was to that quote of the day and Sullivan’s endorsement of it.