To Bush's great credit, he hasn't crumpled before this ghastly mixture of grisly attacks and unspeakable dangers. On the contrary, he has confronted them stoutly, by a combination of diplomatic and military measures, and shows not the slightest sign of backing down. One may quarrel with his choice of targets or techniques -- the Democrats have been strikingly inventive in this regard, if a little short of alternative suggestions -- but George W. Bush, however history comes to regard him, is hardly likely to be criticized as a "do-nothing president."
When he steps down in January 2009, the burden of coping with these problems, whatever form they may by then have taken, will be assumed by his successor. If it is Hillary Clinton -- stoutly supported, no doubt, by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and perhaps even Senate majority leader Harry Reid -- the American people will swiftly learn how good the Democrats are at battling Kim Jong Il, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Osama bin Laden, or their successors.
Meanwhile, for two and a half more years, the shots will continue to be called by George W. Bush. May the Lord grant him a steady eye.