A few points:
1. There are people on the right who believe hurricanes are punishing homosexuals and carrying out the will of God. Both sides have their fringe groups, and neither side is either interesting or remotely reputable.
2. This is an excellent observation, G-Man. Of course, when the media does say something, people ignore unless it fits into their political agenda. When posters here who strongly identify with political parties post here, they tend to ignore that which isn't factual or at the least highly dubious in their own sources while simultaneously vilifying the other side.
3. Another excellent observation. One would have to be blind to not see that Saddam would remain in power for as long as the UN negotiated with him. There is also a school of thought that suggests Saddam hadn't possessed significant amounts of WMD's (if at all) for quite some time. Like many 20th century dictators, he knew that he could indiscriminately kill non-whites without serious blowback from the Western community.
Your point about protecting the rights of terrorists is an important one, I think. If we are to claim that we are a democracy, as the world's hegemon we are expected to follow our own rules. It stands to reason that regardless of the magnitude of the act--i.e. 9/11--that the method of prosecution must somehow resemble the style of freedom we often pay other countries to observe. If we conduct ourselves in a manner inconsistent with our declarations to the UN and so forth, why shouldn't people call attention to that? I don't mean that to say that the insurgents at Camp X-Ray should get cable TV or lamb at dinner. But when we as Americans spend so much time rejecting the barbarism of the Middle East, it makes sense to implement a system of justice consistent with our values to them that democracy works.
I would conclude that Bush's primary reasons for Iraq War II shouldn't have been disguised, and that a bit of the political heat he's taking for it has to do with unclear and/or unrealistic mission goals. People on the right disagree with the war: it isn't an drawn strictly to party lines. The political correctness you speak of isn't attached to people's feelings, but their lives. War is about achieving goals, and playing the politcal chess with the military is often a dangerous balancing game.
