All this (to my mind, premature) talk of

the domino effect in the Middle East aside, here's an interesting (and these days, increasingly common) take on the historical perspective by The Functional Ambivalent:

So, as a Democrat, I'm wondering: What do we do if President Bush was right?  What do we do if the Mideastern dominoes start falling and President Bush goes down in history as Winston Churchill, while we go down as Neville Chamberlain, howling weakly that diplomacy works and military force is no longer necessary?  What if our most conservative President goes down in history as a great contributor to the liberal ideals of freedom and tolerance, while we Democrats -- we liberals -- go down as cold-hearted and fearful, unconcerned about the suffering of our fellows while we sit contentedly in our affluence?

If that happens, are we even liberals any more?

Read the whole thing. (Via VodkaPundit)