Sullivan is very clever. No one ever said he wasn't a very smart guy.
He starts out with Buckley, he touches on all of Bush's acknowledge weak points, which are indeed a cause of concern to conservatives, and then he segues into a vicious attack on the conduct of the war.
I daresay a few Freepers were nodding in agreement during the first part of this article, only to wake up to what was going on toward its end.
There is an underlying problem here. Bush will certainly have a legacy, as the man who tried to conduct the war on terror in the most difficult circumstances, with a third of the country committed to treasonous opposition, the press united against him, and the Democrats willing to go to any lengths to defeat him, even if it undermined our national security.
But by not attending to his base, Bush lays himself open to this kind of vituperative propaganda. In this case it doesn't work. But it still remains to be seen whether the turnout in November will be as enthusiastic as it was in 2004. Bush's recent speech was a masterpiece, but he waited to make it until his enemies had him backed into a corner. He should have cut the legs out from under McCain and company long since.