Yes, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were horrific. But they both came within the context of the worst war ever fought. As events in World War II go, neither bombing was worse than the firebombings of Dresden or Tokyo.

Since the end of that conflict, we’ve kept the worst weapons ever invented on the shelf. Few would have believed that at the time. Military leaders anticipated using nuclear weapons as a matter of course. General Douglas MacArthur, for example, intended to use them against North Korea.

The idea that a country would develop a powerful weapon and then not deploy it seemed strange at the time -- but we’ve come to think of it as routine today. Even after the 9/11 attacks, for instance, no credible analyst advised using nuclear weapons against our enemies in Afghanistan.

Of course, things can work the other way, too. Sometimes something that the experts pass off as a failure can actually lead to successes. This may yet be the fate of the Canada’s Conservative government.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s leadership is being challenged by a coalition of two liberal parties and the party of Quebec separatists -- that’s the party that serves in the government of a country it officially claims to want to leave.

Harper will probably succeed if he sticks to his principles. For example, his political opposition was united by the Conservative’s plan to end government subsidies to political parties. But it’s difficult to believe many Canadians support such payments. Why not just have an election on that one issue, and see how many Liberal MPs are returned to office?

Harper’s finance minister also wants to slash spending and balance the budget before the country attempts to deal with the global recession. There’s an idea: Getting the government’s books in order before you start tossing money at problems. Conservatives in the U.S. would love to import that policy.

The conventional wisdom says a government should throw money at a recession. Policymakers in Washington are certainly doing that. It will be interesting to see if Canada takes a different -- and more successful -- path.