The new catchphrase of the blinded Left is dialogue. Shouldn't the Russians start a dialogue with the "Chechen separatists"? Shouldn't the Russians ask themselves "Why do they hate us?" It's the same apologist bullshit we heard after 9/11. Luckily, it sounds like the Putin will be as resolute as Bush:

Vladimir Putin has attacked the West for calling on Russia to seek political dialogue with Chechen separatists in the wake of last week's school hostage siege in which almost 400 people died.

The hardline leader also ruled out holding a public inquiry into the storming of the Beslan school after a three-day stand-off with rebels who demanded Chechnya's independence.

"Why don't you meet Osama bin Laden, invite him to Brussels or to the White House and engage in talks, ask him what he wants and give it to him so he leaves you in peace?" Britain's Guardian newspaper quoted Mr Putin as telling a group of foreign journalists and academics.

"You find it possible to set some limitations in your dealings with these bastards, so why should we talk to people who are child-killers?"

Exactly. Why is it that these looney lefties will scream every time someone might allegedly "blame the victim" in a rape case, but will turn right around and blame the victim (America, Russia, Israel) when thousands of people are brutally murdered?

I think the answer is that some of them are still in denial about what we're up against. Their theory is that terrorism is no big deal. Certainly nothing compared to the horrors they've been subjected to under the boot of the Bushitler regime. And anytime the veil is lifted and the terrorists are exposed as, well, terrorists, that chips away at their joke of a theory. But that's not all. The more seriously society takes the threat of terrorism, the more likely we'll choose a President who's committed to dealing with it. And therefore, the more likely it is that we'll have four more years of President Bush and the looney lefty pet causes will continue to languish and society deals with more pressing problems.

That's why we don't see images from 9/11 anymore. That's why reporters condemn Russian tv for showing video from the attack last week. That's why these chilling words from a British-based cleric are virtually ignored:

Omar Bakri Mohammed, the spiritual leader of the extremist sect al-Muhajiroun, said that holding women and children hostage would be a reasonable course of action for a Muslim who has suffered under British rule.

"As long as the Iraqi did not deliberately kill women and children, and they were killed in the crossfire, that would be okay."

• We are facing an enemy who think it's "okay" to kill women and children in the name of religious fanaticism.
• We are facing an enemy that has already killed 3,000 people on American soil in a single morning.
• We are facing an enemy that regularly kills Israelis just trying to ride the bus.
• We are facing an enemy that has killed over 500 people in just the last couple of weeks in Russia.
• We are facing an enemy that has stated they have the "right" to kill four to ten million Americans (apparently there's scholarly debate over the exact number of us that "deserve" to be killed).

Will we ever learn to take this threat seriously? The best case scenario is that the Left will come into the fold when the election's over and they can no longer dream of defeating Bush.