What we got, then, were mostly variations on the same theme. Disagreements did erupt, of course. John Edwards, with his sagging poll numbers, was quick to deny the actual existence of the War on Terror. "It's a bumper sticker!" he insisted. "It's a political slogan. That's all it is, that's all it's ever been." Hillary Clinton was having none of this--which is to say that no senator from New York can afford such a rhetorical ploy. But even as the discussion about Iraq heated up, Joe Biden rushed in with a Band-Aid. "I don't want to judge them!" he remarked, when the schoolmarmish but efficient Wolf Blitzer asked him to condemn his colleagues for their votes on the latest round of war funding. "They worked hard! These are my friends!" And not too much later, Clinton added: "The differences among us are minor."

The tiny Parisian corner store looks the same way it did when I lived in the neighborhood. Back then, when I was in the midst of a late-night coding sessions, I would stop by for a snack or two to keep the creative juices flowing. The biscuits are still stacked seven layers deep, and the boîtes de conserve--the canned foods--seem themselves to be holding up the shelves. Behind the counter I see the same proprietor, a man of Algerian descent, and say a quick hello before moving behind the shelves to pick out a package of cookies.