Matt's right. And, on an unrelated matter, so is Ogged; Atrios should leave the nasty cheap shots about other peoples' motives to the folks who specialize in that sort of thing.

POSTSCRIPT, RE: ATRIOS: Does Dr. Black really believe for a moment that people like me -- people who've spent our lives fighting for the same progressive ideals that he holds dear -- could possibly think that way? Or is he just so damned angry about the whole situation that he's completely lost his sense of perspective? I honestly don't know. But I do know this: When demagogues like Andrew Sullivan challenge the motives (i.e., the patriotism) of the liberal wing of the Democratic party, I stand shoulder to shoulder with my friends. And I'm not about to stop just because one those friends appears to have (temporarily, one hopes) lost his way.

UPDATE (8/23): Two quick points.

1) As is his wont (at least in my experience), Atrios couldn't have been any more civil in his response. After offering a spirited recap of his original argument, he closed his reply with these words: "Yes, I am angry that otherwise intelligent people climbed aboard this twisted and nakedly cynical endeavor which was clearly a fraud from start to finish. But, no, I don't question the motives of all who did - just the ones who believe that by being wrong they were proven right."

2) To the vanishingly small percentage of Atrios' readers who felt the need to point out that I'm a F***ING IDIOT (and not just a run-of-the-mill F***ING IDIOT, either, but apparently the kind who could benefit from a little, uh, enhancement, as well), I can only say this: As long as you're voting for John Kerry this fall, have at it, folks. The URL is jackotoole.net, and comments are open 24/7.

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