I just opened a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraising letter from Ted Kennedy that begins with this loathsome sentence:

The reckless abuse of power by George Bush and his right-wing allies is an imminent danger to the nation and must be stopped.

“Imminent danger to the nation” is a loaded phrase that is generally used to describe grave threats to the US from foreign powers. It’s not appropriate for describing your domestic political opponents.

Kennedy should know better. He’s clearly thought about what phrases like “imminent danger” and “imminent threat” mean, since he said in March 2004 that “Iraq was not an imminent threat.” So why is he saying that George Bush is?