The commentator’s natural impulse at moments like this is to go looking for some past column in which he said “I told you so.” Well, I said considerably more than that in my 10/22/2002 piece here on NRO, but the piece stands up fairly well. Quote: “Among the nine nations currently known to have nuclear weapons, two — China and North Korea — are dictatorships, run by secretive cliques who do not consider popular consent to be a necessary component of any state policy. Neither can be depended on to pursue rational policies: North Korea’s policies are in fact irrational, while China’s conversion to rationality is recent, and may for all we know be temporary, having no constitutional or social-historical foundations. A third nuclear nation, Pakistan, has been alternating between a rough, corrupt style of consensual government and frank dictatorship for its entire existence, and is plagued by Islamic fundamentalism. “Three nuclear-armed rogue states are enough for one small planet; three missed opportunities are already three too many. It is time for the United States, with or without the assistance of other nations, to act against the spread of this menace. It is time to declare a new doctrine — the George W. Bush doctrine, you could call it — that there shall be no more nuclear dictatorships, and that this country will do whatever needs to be done, constrained only by public opinion here in the U.S., to put an end to the nuclear ambitions of despots, criminals, religious fanatics, and lunatics.”

That was of course much too hopeful. The George W. Bush doctrine died in the alleys and groves of Iraq, and nobody else is likely to volunteer for the job of world nuke cop. Wide, fast nuclear proliferation is in our future, and we had better come up with a strategic doctrine that encompasses it.

In much happier news, the Huntington Bulldogs 11-year-old “blue” team delivered another glorious victory yesterday, beating Islip 14-0 on Islip’s own turf. This puts us at FIRST PLACE in our division (which is Suffolk County Police Athletic League, 11-year-old Division 4 West). Danny Derbyshire started and played defense the entire game at the position he has now settled into, Defensive End.

And I’m live on KCPW in Salt Lake City around 11:40-12:00, promoting my book.