This incessant repetition 'Socialist victory = sneaky Al Qaeda triumph' is really, truly infuriating. The PP lost so dramatically not because of the bombs but because of the lies that followed them. The transparent political calculation behind blaming ETA, to the extent of manipulating the Security Council into a quick resolution improperly blaming the Basque nationalist group, sent Spanish people on to the streets Saturday and to the polls Sunday.

By the way, has no one in the US media taken notice of the fact that tens of millions of Spaniards managed to vote with paper ballots without problems with chads or fears of Rovian mischieviousness...? It's a telling sign of our national fantasia that high-technology (computer voting!!!) solutions are ipso facto not only correct, but expedient, just, and forward-thinking as well. As with so much, the Spanish people are pointing the way forward for a progressive strategy to counter Bush, one that is credibly anti-terrorist and credibly transparent about the real sources of terror. I think very few people in the American political media world realize right now that Zapatero will put forth every effort to arrest as many people with ties to radical Islamist cells, finance, family members as he plausibly can. He'll lend substance to the progressive argument that fighting terror means fighting Al Qaeda, not occupying Iraq. Or so one hopes...