One year ago on New Year's Eve, we offered this gloomy assessment of the legacy of President George W. Bush: "It has been an enormously eventful seven years for the United States and for the world. By and large, the changes have not been for the better. The United States is deeper in debt, politically polarized, militarily overextended and more deeply distrusted around the world than it was when the president took office." It was harsh judgment, couched in considerable relief that only one year remained of the Bush presidency. As it turned out, though, even that one final year...
