A friend sent me Robin Cook's speech to the House of Commons yesterday, commenting, "Notice that this speech is understandable, unlike others we've been hearing." I watched that speech on TV and thought the exact same thing. Though I thought I'd become a member of the "I can't believe I'm a hawk" club, I'm now back in the peacenik camp. Now that it's upon us, the war sounds like a really really dumb idea.

This is going to sound incredibly trite, but what is it about those British politicians that make them sound so much smarter American politicians? (No, I'm afraid it's not just the accent.) The debate in the Commons, on all sides (Blair, Cook, Straw) was more intelligent and more articulate than anything I heard in the U.S. It's a cliche, but it's a cliche because it's true. Maybe it's because they all read Cicero in school or something.