Douglas MacArthur may have been of a piece with Kerry in another way, too.

Some think MacArthur's viewpoints reflected his ambition to be president. For instance, I've heard it said he resented Admiral Nimitz's activities and successes in the Pacific theatre because that was a "Navy show" (Navy + Marines) that would do nothing to get MacArthur - an Army general - to the White House.

If that's true, then MacArthur might have thought Patton a rival, and seethed whenever Patton held the spotlight.

I see no logical comparison with MacArthur's opinions about strategy in the two front world war and our 3 week victory in Iraq. MacArthur gave his opinion on an alternative use of force but still the use of it. There has been no recommendation for an alternative use of our force in Iraq. The only alternative recommended was that we not overthrow Saddam and continue to push for more inspections and let the status quo continue.

Opinions are like assholes. Everybody has one.

Any clear thinking person can see that Karl Rove put MacArthur up to this.

Oh, please. MacArthur had an ego only slightly smaller than the Pacific Ocean, which itself wasn't big enough for both he and Nimitz. And Nimitz thought up the island-hopping thing. MacArthur's philosophy, expressed in the bloody battles for Lae and Buna on New Guinea, was to take on the Japanese strong points head on. While he was slugging it out up the north coast of the island, for, like, two freaking years, Nimitz went from Hawaii to Guam, bypassing strong points like Truk and Rabaul. MacArthur couldn't stand not being the center of the universe and hated the fact that his former subordinate, Eisenhower, was more prominent.