At all events, what is the alternative to encouragement of democracy? The left, at least in theory (I'll overlook the left's tacit and sometimes overt admiration of certain communist dictatorships), has always supported democracy and criticized the US's willingness to prop up dictatorships. Are you suggesting that we should we have somehow subverted the Palestinian election process to prop up Fatah? Are you suggesting that we should take out Chavez a la Allende?

Democracy is a process; it doesn't promise particular results.

As for Hamas, there is some good news. Sharon's policy of withdrawing from Gaza and walling off Palestine means that Israel can afford to ignore them unless and until they acknowledge Israel's right to exist. If Hamas encourages terrorism, Israel has tremendous resources at its disposal. Moreover, the Palestinians are flat-out broke. The country -- to the extent it is a country -- has remained viable only because the "international community" gave it billions in aid. We'll see what happens when that aid is cut off. I'm linking to the best article I've seen analyzing the situation.

I don't think, by the way, that your assumption that the Iranian elections were a model of democracy is correct. As I understand it, a religious counsel approves all candidates who are permitted to run. The current Iranian leader was elected after that council rejected the candidacies of the "reform" candidates. "Reform" voters (and I understand that in Iran all terms are relative) boycotted, and Hitler (or whatever his name is) won as a result. The problem in Iran is not enough democracy, rather than too much.

What are the summit meetings you are recalling with such nostalgic fondness? Arguably it was summit meetings such as those that produced the Oslo Accords that helped create this mess in the first place.

• "Further Thoughts on the Hamas Victory"

I'm not sure that Hamas in power is any worse than Fatah. Fatah sorta kinda said for international audiences that maybe Israel was entitled to exist, but that's not the message it was conveying for home consumption, and that was certainly not consistent with the avowed aims and actions of its own paramilitary terrorist arms. Even assuming good faith by the Fatah political leadership -- which assumption I don't accept -- they did not have the political will or credibility with their constituents to bring meaningful peace even if they'd wanted to.

Nonetheless, although the peace process was a joke, the US and others maintained it wasn't and continued to aid Fatah and treat it like it was a serious entity. I wish Bush had been more aggressive and called a spade a spade, but I can't blame him for publicly holding out the possibility that the peace process remained viable. Had he said anything else, the entire world would have started jumping up and down and screaming that yet again "Bushitler" was showing his true colors as a warmongering fascist lacky of Israel who hated Arabs and Islam, etc. No doubt, your friends John Kerry, Hillary, et al., would have been leading the chorus.

Which brings us to Hamas, a terrorist organization that has now reaffirmed post-election that it is committed to the destruction of Israel. At least the cards are on the table. Having elected Hamas, the Palestinian electorate will now be held accountable for their decision. Refusing recognition, cutting off the flow of international aid, and Israeli completion of the Wall are the first steps. Then, as the article I linked to above shows, Israel has powerful weapons available in case of provocation, both peaceful (cutting off power and water, etc.) and military.

In short, it seems to me that Israel is no worse off or militarily vulnerable than it was before, and perhaps the election has brought a moral clarity and accountability that will, in the long run, eventually bring the Palestinian people to the painful realization that they need real peace.

I tend to agree, that now it's out on the table. Israel can take action with at least a modicum of justification, although up to now their actions are nothing to be bragging about.

Watched another special on Presidents. James Adams. Totally underrated power in the creation of our country.

Reagarding Kerry; he's another failure, couldn't get the job done. Hillary carries too much baggage and has tipped her hand in favor of policies that would benefit the middle class; a death knell in todays political climate.
So what happens if during this upcoming election in Mexico that Vinceze Fox is deposed? Now we have real problems on our doorstep.

All of which makes the later reconciliation between Adams and Jefferson all the more remarkable and significant. As you no doubt know, the two men wound up dying on the same day -- July 4, 1826, fifty years to the day after July 4, 1776. Adams's last words were supposedly, "Thomas Jefferson survives." He was wrong. Jefferson had died a few hours earlier.

• "Border face-off involved men in Mexican army uniforms"

Man these guys were truly giants. What a confluence of minds and history. I believe it shows the value of a classical education. Instead of being so focused as we are now, they were masters of many things, especially language.

Adams ranked eighth among right-of-center bloggers. Remarkably, he did not rank at all among left-of-center bloggers. I have no idea why. I can only speculate that the Alien and Sedition Acts played a large part.

Left-of-center blogger survey results: http://www.rightwingnews.com/blogsel/leftgreatest.php

Right-of-center blogger survey results: http://www.rightwingnews.com/special/greatestfigures.php