Kill Granny

Or the terrorists win.

A U.S. president who fails on his signature issue--health care--won't have the strength and public support to deal with new challenges by Islamists. He will be seen at home and abroad as seriously weakened. Yet neither party seems much bothered by this threat. . . .

Legislators on both sides of the aisle should start thinking beyond their narrow self-interest. If Democrats fail to find a health-care compromise they may doom their president's foreign policy, and their own reelection chances. They will certainly be helping the Taliban, by undercutting Obama's ability to craft a policy that could save Afghanistan.