From a reader:

I don’t have a lot invested in Cindy Sheehan’s cause one way or the other, but it strikes me that this is what happens at some point during conflicts, especially since Vietnam. In fact, isn’t your opposite example Lyndon Johnson, and don’t the same sort of protestors show up backed by similar looking opportunists (your word)? I don’t know what that says about Republican vs. Democrat ways of operating, but it does seem to say something (to me anyway) about how the same actors go through the same motions each time (much the way the Roberts’ confirmation show – billed as a spectacular conflict – has fizzled as everyone does the things we all thought they’d do all along). I think the difference is not “what if that had happened under Clinton”, but that a under a Clinton type President (funny, but you get my drift, I expect), this turn of events seems less than likely to occur; if it had, though, it would fall much the way it did under Johnson.
I think if the war keeps dragging along with more death and less to show for our efforts, there will be more Cindy Sheehans; but if Bush is right, we’re supposed to succeed and the cause will be obviously just and the Cindy Sheehans will be minimized. The question seems to be, do you have faith that things will turn out along those lines?
Enjoying your work as always – really liked your Novak essay, at least in terms of how pointless those yelling shows have become.