If Democrats believe anything these days, it is that it is wrong to question anyone's patriotism. For John Kerry, this is a matter of sacred conviction. He calls the defeat in 2002 of former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland "the most craven moment I have ever seen in American politics," because "the Republican party challenged this man's patriotism." He routinely vows to fight back with a fearsome "message for those who try to challenge the Democrats and say to them 'you're unpatriotic.'" In Kerry's book, only the desperate hurl such charges: "It's curious to me how angry they get and how...