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In a speech on Veterans' Day, for the first time since last year's presidential election, George W. Bush finally spoke up in his own defense against the irresponsible accusations of hypocritical Democrats. Many of them initially backed his move against Saddam Hussein, only to accuse him now of lying to us in order to take the nation to war.

In response to the president's speech, of course, Dems sputtered and spouted more platitudes and accusations for their sycophants in the national media to report as fact. Since their rewriting of history continues unabated, I thought it would be interesting to rewrite it in another direction. Imagine this...

On August 25, 2004, headlines across the country screamed the story: "Our Worst Nightmare Realized;" "Dirty Bombers Strike Five Major Cities;" Now We Truly Are At War;" and "Millions May Be Dead!"

President Bush, winging his way across the Pacific on Air Force One after a trip to Asia, ordered the Pentagon to DEFCON 1, where it stood prepared for all out war -- but with whom? Was this, once again, the work of Osama bin Laden? Was it Saddam Hussein? Both? If only he had pushed harder to take out the Iraqi dictator when the intelligence clearly pointed to him as a source of weaponry for terrorists.

Congress immediately returned from its August break for a special emergency joint session. Strangely, Washington, DC, had not been among the cities hit, but in the interest of security, members of the House and Senate met under heavy guard in the underground at STRATCOM Headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base, near Omaha.

"Mr. Speaker, I can scarcely utter the words," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, intoned. "This morning, downtown Manhattan, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Seattle and Los Angeles are smoldering, radioactive ruins. We have no idea how horrendous is the loss of human life today."

"Our nation is under attack as never before," Sen. Harry Reid, D-NV, said in a wavering voice. "God help us all."

For a few days, the nation stood united, much as it had after the September 11, 2001, attack. There was a clear sense of frustration. America, the most powerful nation in the world, had the capability to strike back with the most terrible arsenal ever assembled. And yet, we sat, contemplating the consequences of our actions.

Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-MA, was the first to break the bipartisan spirit. Speaking on the floor of the U.S. Senate, he delivered a blistering address accusing the president of ignoring intelligence suggesting that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

"The president had every opportunity to take out this evil dictator," Kennedy said. "We all knew he had WMDs. We all knew he had ties to terrorists. We all knew, but it was the president's responsibility to deal with Saddam Hussein, and now America is paying the price for George W. Bush's incompetence."

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