...But uses it to attack conservatives, and impugn their motives for opposing this crappy immigration deal.

The President would have us believe that the War on Terror is the defining issue of our time, yet he refuses to implement a strategy that would credibly and effectively secure the porous Southern border, through which Al Qaeda terrorists could now easily slip through and move to commit an atrocity on the homeland. The President would have us believe that nation states that sponsor terror are equivalent to the terrorists themselves, yet he sits down and talks to Iran, a prime sponsor and producer of terrorism, with the Iranians then proceeding to mock him afterward for making the effort. Little gained there. Altogether embarassing would be an understatement.

Yes, we've been waiting for the President to go on the attack, to get a nerve, to communicate with some semblance of competence and eloquence to the American people, to stand up and stand behind something firmly, to go on the attack and show some political fortitude. We have been waiting for quite some time.

It is most regrettable that Mr. Bush had to use the first occasion of New Found Fortitude to attack the motives of those who have tried to be so strongly supportive. A few more moves like this and the President's remaining credibility with his base is going to go into freefall. Someone wrote last week that Karl Rove "found the last vestige of support for Bush, and is working on destroying that," or words to that effect. Those words ring much more true today.