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The only dark cloud is a very dark one: another massive slaughter on American soil. The terrorists don’t have to be brilliant, just lucky – as they were last time, when they wandered around sticking out like sore thumbs to gazillions of Federal and state officials sensitivity-trained not to notice behaviour that practically screamed “I’m a terrorist!” Tom Ridge, Director of Homeland Security, says that right now al-Qaeda types are probing for weak spots at American airports. Which pre-supposes that they’re already in the country. Which confirms pretty much that the first weak spot remains the US border. On the whole, all the Federal agencies that failed so spectacularly on 9/11 are as bureaucratic, lethargic and inept as they were then. And no-one has been fired. One lucky break for a couple of Islamist boneheads, and the Dems and the media will be hammering Bush on why he let it happen all over again. It remains a melancholy fact that, for a US President, it’s easier to reform Iraq’s government agencies than America’s. I do not expect this situation to improve in 2004.

-- Mark Steyn