Ramesh – I’m not worked up about it either, but I do think Kerry deserves the grief he’s getting for the “regime change” comment. It drips with condescension, arrogance, moral equivalency and — perhaps worst of all — unoriginality. These are the attributes which best define much the Democratic Party today and should be open to thorough criticism and mockery.

That aside, I’m surprised you didn’t make a different argument considering your expertise in certain areas. “Regime” — especially in conservative circles — has a larger meaning than simply which party is in power. The whole “First Things” controversy, you’ll recall, was generated by the suggestion that conservatives should perhaps question the legitimacy of “the existing regime.” This wasn’t a reference to Bill Clinton but to the reigning American political order — or at least that was the charge (my eagerness to wade into that briar patch is nil).

Now, I understand that Kerry didn’t have this reading in mind since by this understanding Kerry isn’t calling for a change of regimes so much as trying to take over the regime. Now that I’ve gotten this far, I’m not sure my point extends beyond pedantry, but I got a lot of pro-pedantry email last week, so what the hey.