Long division: America is not split over the Vietnam War. But Karl Rove needs you to believe that it is.

AROUND ABOUT THE THIRD WEEK OF THE "SWIFT"-BOAT controversy, commentators began to note, in a tone of disapproving sadness, that the firestorm created by the accusations against John Kerry proved that three decades later, the nation was still hopelessly divided over the Vietnam War.

David Broder of The Washington Post kicked things off: "Will we ever recover from the 1960s?" his August 24 column began. He went on to reiterate some of the high-water marks of our cultural divide, noting that the "ferocity" of the clash over Kerry's war record and 1971 ...

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