The Protocols of the Yuppies of Zion has a very worthwhile "quick and dirty" synopsis of the recent developments in the Middle East. For once, it seems that even the most ardently anti-Bush media outlets are able to do the math (today's New York Times, for example) and rightly conclude that these events are interrelated and not mere happenstance; going that extra mile to find that the liberations of Afghanistan and Iraq were the catalyst of these broader changes may take some additional soul-searching and, ultimately, some non-partisan intellectual honesty.
I for one am hopeful that the leaders within the Democratic Party will be able to go that extra mile. Sometimes success comes when you originate a course of action which works; sometimes success comes when you adopt a course of action which works. Supporting the spread of democracy and personal freedom in the Middle East is not just the morally-right thing for the United States to do; it is becoming apparent that it is the pragmatic thing to do as well. The Democrats, if they collectively shun this course of action that works because it did not originate with them, will certainly condemn themselves to also-ran status for many elections to come; "adopt and improve" should be their mantra from this point forward. Bill Clinton understood as well as anyone that you don't avoid good ideas just because they weren't yours.
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