I’m with Jonah. The terrorists turned the Spanish election by the deft placement of a few bombs days before an election. They turned ours by killing 100 soldiers in Iraq in one month. (I know, it’s more complicated than that, but that’s how our enemies will interpret it.) That American voters would send such a message is deeply dismaying.

At the same time, the Bush Administration cannot “scape whippin.” If you start a war, win it. If you fail, the consequences are dire. This domestic rout could be the mildest result of that failure.