Conservative saber-rattlers kept talking about "a new kind of war" and "9/11 changed everything" at which point they fought an old kind of war and all but ignored 9/11.

I want revenge for 9/11. Heck, I want revenge for the bombing of the American Embassy and the Marine Barracks in Beirut in 1983.

Instead of dealing with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, Reagan cut and ran. He cobbled together a trumped-up war in Grenada and ignored the actual threat. America got its photo-op, but the terrorists were emboldened to kidnap Americans and build Al Queda.

Instead of dealing with the Saudi-backed Al Queda, Bush cut and ran. He attacked their base in Afghanistan in a limp-wristed campaign that let Osama bin Laden roam free. Then, for reasons arrogant and petulant, he attacked Iraq.

At no point did we either get revenge for the crime committed, and at no point did we discourage anyone from committing more crimes. By treating the War on Terror as the heir to the Cold War, right-wing pundits got it all wrong. Just like their failed Culture War here in the US, they were on the wrong side for the wrong reasons.

The Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld administration was one big cautionary tale. Let's hope we at last start listening to people who were right and ignoring people who were wrong.

I don't think Obama deserves the Nobel Peace Prize -- yet -- but I do admire the guts of the Nobel Prize Committee. Since Arafat, the prize itself is meaningless about the peace process; many would argue for an earlier shark jump. $1.4 million and the ability to focus on an issue is certainly a way to make a political point. I wonder if there are any fewer land mines being laid?

Still, I am pleased with the award. All Americans should be proud that their president is recognized as a game changer (to use a salon.com phrase) by the international community.

That doesn't mean anyone who disagrees isn't a good American. But you do have to worry. The same people who ran on the platform "Country First" started whining about secession within nanoseconds of losing an election. The same people who sling "America First" in opposition to NAFTA and the UN cheer when an American city is rejected as an Olympic hopeful. Let's not even talk about the birthers, the tea partiers or the dittoheads who desperately want out president's America to fail.

When Al Queda intimated that they wanted Bush to lose in 2004, Fox/CNN/the right wing blogosphere was all over that, equating support for Kerry with support for terrorists. For eight years, those on the right slimed some very good people with playground insults. I'm still mad about Max Cleland.

The DNC is only playing by the rules that the RNC made. Indeed, they have better cause, since the goppies whine in almost the same words as the terrorists over precisely the same issue. Yes, their characterization of the insecure right stupid and they should know better. But Democrats also want to win elections, and they have seen the effect of mud slinging.

I don't really want mud slinging to be effective, but I am amused at the flip-flopping: Conservatives can dish it out but they can't take it.

And we have the Novel Peace Prize Committee to thank for the lesson.

It's one thing to be partisan, wanting to let the press treat your guys like heros. It's another thing to be manipulative, suppressing stories and directing the debate.

Control of the "liberal media" has been a major element of all repressive regimes, from Stalin through Saddam Hussein and George W. Bush. The most egregious current example is Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's Prime Minister, who is whining about the "liberal media" even though he owns 90% of it. When it comes to deliberate misinformation masquerading as "balance", Communists and Republicans share a common practice.

One of the basic tenets of Karl Marx is a free press. In that sense, Obama's view of the media is indeed "socialist".

Heh heh heh.

Too many on the right just don't get it.

Now, where is the media in all this? If we had a real fourth estate, it would be calling the lying liars for what they are. Instead, we have an extremely conservative news media that is either the equivalent of Pravda or hopelessly incompetent in what they do.

Hooray for Alan Grayson and Al Franken! It's about time Democrats started swinging.

Wow, I get to use that subject line two days in a row.

Good job, Glenn. I'm going to check out the links, too. Reality has a notoriously liberal bias, as Colbert observed, and the story is larger than one whiny Tucker Carlson.

I find it annoying and amusing that the boo birds have come out in force here in the comments section. This is not about The First Amendment. Clainimg so is a complete non sequitur; worse, a straw man.

Obama has First Amendment rights too. He can say whatever he likes. When he does, his remarks are subject to praise or criticism as need be. By the same token, Fox "News" is not being ordered to shut down. It's being criticized. And about time.

Clearly, the right wing in this country can't stand the heat of its own kitchen. The right are comprised mainly of cowards and liars. Tucker Carlson and company are babies who can't admit that they have been wrong. I'm glad adults are in charge at last.