Dems, Can we please fight back??

This is what happens when the dems don't fight back.

John is hits a a point of concern for those of us just a little tired of the same old, same old.

AP has a huge new story out about the Democrats' "patriotism problem." And AP is correct. Our party lets the Republicans impugn our patriotism with, well, impunity, and then we wonder why every election, and on practically every issue, we have to deal with attacks on our patriotism. Why? Because they work. (The public is already seeing McCain as more patriotic than Obama.) Why do they work? Because we don't fight back. The appropriate response to someone questioning your patriotism isn't to say "you're wrong" or "I object!" The appropriate response is to punch the guy in the face, rhetorically or otherwise. Wesley Clark didn't even question John McCain's patriotism - he simply questioned McCain's qualifications for the presidency. McCain responded by punching Wesley Clark in the face, then dragged him around tied to the back of a truck for a week for good measure (and no one in the party came to Clark's defense, big surprise there). McCain didn't just say "stop it," McCain made sure that neither Clark nor anyone else would dare question his commander in chief credentials ever again.

What has our side done to bloody McCain for questioning our patriotism? What have we ever done to fight back when the Republicans question our patriotism, be it in the Congress or at the ballot box? How many times do we have to write about this Achilles Heel before Dems realize it ain't going away? We deal with this issue every election, and on every issue, because Democrats either don't have the balls to fight back, or they don't have the brains. Either way, it's pathetic, and make us looks weak (and unpatriotic). And it's happening again. And again. And again.

Update: Perry seems to agree.