I remember when I used to have to argue that the culture war wouldn’t be ending any time soon. (For my detailed thoughts on this, go here.) Now I don’t even have to bother to make the argument. Still, it’s worth noticing how intense the culture war is right now. I’m not just talking about gay marriage. The presidential campaign is clearly being driven by the culture war. The last presidential campaign was too (remember red versus blue America), but now the effect is out in the open. The notion that September 11 would somehow suspend the culture war was never correct. After September 11, our cultural disputes simply crystalized around the war on terror. After all, the culture war began with our divisions over Vietnam. Now the remnants and descendants of the sixties cultural left have captured their party’s nomination process. With war, terrorism and gay marriage on the table, this election promises to turn into an open showdown between our cultural disputants.