This brings us to another shattered liberal canard: that the war in Iraq has made us less safe. Sen. Obama makes his opposition to the war a centerpiece of his campaign. “The war in Iraq has emboldened al Qaeda, whose recruitment has jumped and whose leadership enjoys a safe haven in Pakistan -- a thousand miles from Iraq,” he told supporters in March.

But far from being empowered, al Qaeda looks weaker today than ever. Powerlineblog notes, “There were no successful attacks inside the United States or against American interests abroad” in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 or, so far, 2008. And as CIA Director Michael Hayden recently told FOX News, “Those parts of Iraq where al Qaeda can feel safe are small and shrinking. And again, nothing in this line of work is guaranteed, but the trend lines we are seeing right now are quite positive.”

How about a final liberal canard -- that the U.S. is a decidedly racist country. As Obama’s victory illustrates, the opposite is true. Racism has been in decline for so long, it’s difficult to find even if you go looking for it.

As John McWhorter, author of Winning the Race: Beyond the Crisis in Black America, wrote in the New York Sun, “At this point, if racism was unattended to for 10 years, during that time it would play exactly the same kind of role it does in America now -- elusive, marginal and insignificant.” Indeed.

The news is bad for liberals, but great for our country. Liberalism doesn’t seem to have much to add to the national conversation, yet Barack Obama is going forth as the most liberal political candidate in a generation.

Good luck with that.