Implicit in many of their arguments is the notion that there’s something contemptibly fainthearted about those who want to hew to the principles of basic decency fit for a nation that styles itself primus inter pares of the world’s liberal democracies, even if foreswearing the most brutal tactics means accepting some additional risks. The apex of resolute manliness, on the other hand, consists in begging the government to dilute traditional liberties at home and ape our enemies’ barbarism abroad, if only we might feel a bit safer.
Now I understand. Dick Cheney is a big, limp weenie.