I hate to be pessimistic about the unrest in the Arab world, as I am sure many of the people involved in the protests truly want some form of pluralistic, representative democracy. But I cannot shake the feeling that, in the end, when the smoke and the tear gas clears and the old leaders have been killed or chased out, the new governments will be run by Islamist fanatics. Revolutions just as often end with a Napoleon or a Stalin as they do with a Washington or a Mandela, and perhaps more often with the former.

Daniel Henninger says that the President is embarked on a voyage to nowhere, and he is taking the country with him. I say, "hope and CHANGE in 2012".

Still, the relevant political question is whether we are living in 1995 or 1979. In 1995, having seen the voters give Congress to the GOP in '94, Bill Clinton pivoted decisively to the center and, with the help of a good economy and a bad opponent, won reelection in 1996. In 1979, facing a bad economy and a hostage crisis, Jimmy Carter floundered around while he and his advisers, with encouragement from the mainstream media, convinced themselves that Reagan could not possibly win. Carter was crushed by a landslide Reagan win in 1980. As I look around today, I see a bad economy and a deteriorating situation in terms of foreign policy. So far, so good, for the GOP. But they need to nominate someone closer to Reagan than to Dole.