Just remember: it's this condemned wreck John Kerry wants us to move back into. At least President Bush ducks in and out as quickly as possible.

One of the more interesting elements of the years 2002-2005, viewed many years from now, will be how public opinion was, at least temporarily, invited to focus on false scandals by perpetrators and sympathists of the real ones. "Forget about thousands of Iraqis dying of treatable causes while unelected suits lined their pockets with millions! Who cares if Saddam told us he didn't have weapons or terrorist ties, just like he told us he hadn't filled any mass graves! Look at what a handful of American MPs did! Curse the White House!"

A THOUGHT: Bill Safire notes the White House's (and subsequently Paul Bremer's) slowness to respond to Congressional inquiries on UNSCAM, the Oil-for-Food scandal. An obvious explanation would be that, as Safire puts it, "the White House doesn't want to offend the UN," and until President Bush has received everything he needs from the body — namely, political support for allies across the world — he'll hold on the wrecking ball. But here's another thought, drawing from election lessons of 2002: if I were a strategist in this White House, I just might keep quiet until even Carl Levin were accusing me of dragging my feet on an important corruption investigation. I'd wait to see if anyone would bite; for the Democrats to demand the dragnet move forward. Then I'd go full bore into public debate on the trustworthiness of the United Nations and the wisdom of placing trust therein; and watch every bureau-internationalist Democrat dance like somebody's shooting bullets at his feet. That'd be some political little-ball.