…elsewhere on the Post op-ed page, compares Bush to an East German diplomat in his resolute refusal to acknowledge reality. Cohen rests his case mostly on the fact that that there are still terror alerts at the same time that Bush says we are “safer.” What’s so hard to understand about the fact that we have done much to make ourselves safer, but still face a threat? You can argue about the extent to which we are safe, but it is absurd to liken Bush’s safer rhetoric to the delusional or purposely dishonest ravings of an East German official. We took away al Qaeda’s safe haven in Afghanistan, turned the Pakistanis and Saudi Arabia (kind of, very much with fits and starts) against Islamic militants, took away Iraq from Arab radicalism (let’s pray it sticks), rolled up Pakistan’s proliferation network, and enacted the Patriot Act to eliminate the most absurd and anachronistic constraints of domestic counter-terrorism. If Cohen cannot see these things, then maybe he has the reality problem…