It has been heartening to see, at least, passionate debate in Britain's parliament about the coming invasion. The very lack of congressional interest in mounting ANY serious opposition to the Go-It-Alone philosophy of the Bush Administration has been dispiriting, and indeed has felt like a kind of overriding symptom of representative government's weakness in this country, the way a certain kind of ache in the bones suggests flu.

The current thinking among many Democrats on being the party of the loyal opposition? Apparently it's "We might not be co-operating enough."

Officials in both parties say the image of high-profile Democrats challenging President Bush's war policy right up through his address to the nation on Monday — and, in fact, beyond the speech, as was clear here today — could reinforce a perception that Republicans are better suited to deal with threats from abroad.

Should that happen, Democrats say, it could pose a serious obstacle for the party if the White House and Congressional contests in 2004 — unlike the contests of 1992, 1996 and 2000 — are fought out on issues of national security and foreign policy.

So, says the Times, the debate among Democrats is "whether it is appropriate even to criticize Mr. Bush's Iraq policy with the nation almost at war." But given that we've been at various stages of alert and embroiled in a "crisis" with Iraq for months, when would be the time?

But now that sexy pictures of bombs and tanks are filling the news pages, even I'm succumbing to the sense of inevitability. As noxious as that is, I grudgingly admit to having to move on to the question of what's next -- of what we'll do with our new colony, what we'll do to repair the damage to international co-operation, how we'll fight insane tax policy and the infringement on civil rights in the name of security. And all the other junk we have to do.

Somewhere in there we have to figure out how to temper the power that's been assumed by these people who believe that government by fiat is their right.

Yeah. All that stuff.