Has the wind really shifted?

Normally, I don't see much point in directing readers to the major story on Kos; you've probably already seen it or will see it soon. But "Fog of War" by Hunter is particularly well-written. Hunter comments on Newsweek's Howard Fineman -- who, in turn, had some harsh comments on the White House's reactions to the Murth-quake:

The press isn't having fun anymore.

The battles are too acrimonious even for good television. The stakes, when even vaunted idols like Bob Woodward are finding themselves dashed upon the rocks, are getting too personal, and too close to home. And in cases like Fineman's, I have to wonder if what I am positive I saw, tonight, I actually saw: a man calling the White House out, rather directly. A man who was no more impressed with the attacks upon Murtha than anyone else watching, to the point where it shifted the tone of the debate, because a lighter tone, in this particular case, simply could not be conscripted.

Whether or not Karl Rove survives the excesses of being Karl Rove, I have to wonder if the same crass, one-note song will play, or if the audience has changed. When the only weapon the White House is capable of using is to impugn the very patriotism and Americanness of their opponents, what happens if the reactions to that attack change?

What happens if the press decides that dissent is, after all, patriotic?

To which a reader added:

Regarding the Schmidt soundbite, it reminded me of "what if they gave a war and nobody came?" -- what if they attacked someone's patriotism and nobody believed it anymore? Can Karl Rove still be a bogeyman if no one is scared of him anymore?

A college chum once told me that some Medieval churchmen believed that the Devil was frightening only as long as people took him seriously. Satan lost power the moment human beings started to laugh at him.

The far-rightists have thrived on lies and lucre, only to be undone by the facts of their misgovernance. No matter how well-funded their efforts to keep the public in a perpetual state of hallucination, history will break the trance.