L’esprit de l’escalier means the “wit of the staircase” — the things you wish you said after an argument is over and you’re on your way out the door.

Tonight, I taped an interview with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. A lot of friends advised me not to do it — because sitting down for an interview with Stewart is akin to sitting down to play poker with guys called “Doc” and “Slim.”

Indeed, this show is his casino and the advantage is strongly with the house in every way.

That said, I feel I held my own (and my thanks to Kate O’Beirne who gave me wise counsel about some of the hardest questions I’d have to answer).

The interview/debate was lively, it was civil, it was really better than any other TV debate I’ve had on this subject. I thought I held my own — which is not to say I won the debate with the audience in the studio or the audience at home in TV Land.

Jon let the conversation run a long time for the studio audience — all his ardent fans – much longer than can or will appear on the air tonight at 11. And it’s possible the editors will cut it to my distinct disadvantage. But I’m told the full interview will be up on The Daily Show’s web site tomorrow.

There is, however, at least one point that I wish I had made — or made better:

Jon kept talking as though the war we’re fighting, defending ourselves against the militant Islamist jihad, is over. It is not.

And the policy he prefers — granting full Geneva protections even to al-Qaeda leaders we know possess knowledge of future attacks, which really means asking (nicely) only name, rank, and serial number – is a return to the policy we had in place after the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center.

We were hit again in 1996 (Khobar Towers), 1998 (two embassies in Africa), 2000 (the USS Cole), and of course 2001.

If we go down the road he and others on the Left are directing us, we must expect — and accept — that we will bem hit again, and probably hit much harder than were on 9/11.