On the matter of American hypocrisy in demanding other countries give up their nukes. (See this post by Erik on All That Arises.)

Back in the good old days of the cold war, the doctrine of mutually assured destruction (MAD) was said to prevent seemingly sane world leaders from arrogantly shoving the planet over the precarious precipice of annihilation. But that was predicated on the hesitation of men to see their populations obliterated and the world destroyed. With the rise of people like Kim Jung Il, we can’t count on that anymore. Would he start a nuclear war because he’s having a bad hair day? Who knows.

Can you see why a man like Bush, with all the statesmanship of a longhorn steer, has such a fear of WMD? There’s no MAD, only madmen. In the new world, the only tolerable number of nations with WMD is one. Hypocritical, coming from the only nation ever to use nukes on people? Sure. But somehow, sickeningly rational.