Criticism from whom? Why, the liberal media, of course. The media are the arbiters of acceptable behavior. When Rudy Giuliani recounts what he and many New Yorkers felt -- and said -- on Sept. 11, 2001 -- "Thank God George Bush is our president," he's politicizing a national tragedy. But when a prominent Democrat accuses the president of having been "warned ahead of time by the Saudis" that the country would be attacked, as Howard Dean did to little notice on National Public Radio earlier this year, well, that's just one man's opinion.
When Democrats host a convention featuring military themes even though delegates are overwhelmingly opposed to the war in Iraq, the media sees no inconsistency. But when the GOP invites pro-choice Republicans to address the convention -- not on abortion, but on the war on terrorism and tax policy -- that's proof that those sneaky right-wingers are trying to pull a bait-and-switch on the unsuspecting public, and it's the media's role to report endlessly on the GOP's attempt to put forward a disingenuously "moderate" image.
Thankfully, we no longer have to accept the New York Times' version of the truth. More Americans are getting their information from alternative news sources today than ever before, including talk radio and the Internet. But the problem is too many people have simply decided to tune out altogether. I'm not sure what's worse, remaining totally ignorant or accepting the deception that masquerades as news being dished out by the liberal media.