He caught a lot of flack for it.

Serious question: Does everyone remember if they were for or against the Iraq war in 2003 AT THE TIME. I honestly don’t.

— John Aravosis (@aravosis) May 9, 2016

Yes.

"Reality based community"

There are scholarly men, to whom the history of philosophy (both ancient and modern) is philosophy itself; for these the present Prolegomena are not written. They must wait till those who endeavor to draw from the fountain of reason itself have completed their work; it will then be the historian's turn to inform the world of what has been done.

Immanuel Kant

[W]hen we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors… and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.

Karl Rove