But we are in a war, a war unlike we've ever been in before.
You're the one who wants to call it a war when it's rhetorically convenient to excuse something, but doesn't want to actually fight it like one.
Pot, Kettle, dear.
On the contrary, I think things are going about right, or as well as can be expected. I've got some issues with the way some things have been handled, but overall, I'm fine. I just don't think we're at war.
But we are in a war, a war unlike we've ever been in before
You calling it one doesn't make it so. A congressional declaration makes it so. We're in low intensity security operations in a Iraq and Afghanistan. We're in an international law enforcement and intelligence operations throughout the world. We're in covert actions. We're in diplomatic negotiations. We're in a cultural debate. We're in a heightened security state in the US. But none of those, individually or together, is a "war" any more than the war on drugs is a war.
Pot, Kettle, dear.
If you're throwing out cliches, I'll say that you want to have your cake and eat it, too. You want the rhetorical bludgeon of "it's a war" without any of the things that actually go with it.