Where are the Dems?... In Slate's Iraq war dialogue, Terror and Liberalism author Paul Berman has some tough words for George Bush -- and a tough question for Democrats.

[T]otalitarian movements can ultimately be defeated only in the realm of ideas. Millions of people have to be persuaded to change their ideas. Not forced—persuaded. Which is to say, someone has to go out there and try to persuade people.

On this point, which happens to be the most important point of all, Bush has failed us almost totally. It is pretty outrageous. His failure to take up these matters ought to be seen as a calamity. But then, who has been making up for this terrible failure of his? Who has taken up the burden to wage a really extensive war of ideas, a war of TV networks, radio programs, lectures, books, magazines, and everything else? I don't mean something small—I mean a massive campaign.

I think the political right is incapable of waging such a war, by virtue of its own militaristic and isolationist instincts. The neocons do sometimes talk about a war of ideas, but, on these matters, neoconservatism is all talk, no action. So, then, this should be the business of people on the left side of the spectrum. But where are the Democrats, on these matters? The left? This is truly a problem, and nobody seems to be doing very much about it, not on a grand scale, anyway.

Berman's right -- perhaps tragically so. As a group, we Democrats haven't truly begun to reckon with the challenge of 9-11, and the price of that abdication, for us and for the world, has already been high. Very high.

In truth, the great and terrible conflicts of the last century were, as Bob Dole once nastily and quite correctly put it, "Democrat wars." As this one must be, if we're to win it.

UPDATE: Jesus, already an angry email from an anti-war Dem who thinks I'm calling her a fifth columnist. For the record, I'm not. In fact, if you want to know what I think of people who do call Democrats fifth columnists, click here.

UPDATE 2: More in the comments.