Twofer

Picking back up on their budding feud from a few weeks ago, Mickey Kaus continues his jihad against Andrew Sullivan, blaming Sullivan's desire for a clash of civilizations on--surprise!--gay marriage. [What else could it be based on? --ed Beats me.]

But wait, there's more!

Kaus not only pulls on Sullivan's hair, he swings his purse (again) at Peter Beinart. Is Kaus still so smart he's wrong? Yes!!! He says:

"Maybe Democrats will ultimately have no choice other than dissembling or declaring a clash of civilizations. But why race to that point? At the moment, I don't see why we can't have a Democratic party that openly a) refrains from force-feeding gay marriage to the public b) has room in it for patriotic Iraq War skeptics and c) as a consequence of a) and b) is better positioned to wage an effective military and ideological battle against Islamic terrorism."

What has Kaus's flackseed-oil-enhanced superbrain missed? Umm, September 11? In case he missed it, a not-insignificant-portion of one civilization has already declared war on Western civilization in general, and the progressive end of liberalism in particular. In many ways, Bush is fighting a war in defense of Big-D Democratic values.

If Democrats want to continue to oppose Bush while he fights on their behalf, they need only look to Europe to see where that road leads. Is this what Kaus wants? Surely not. [But he's really, really smart, right? --ed You bet!]