Ever since Ronald Reagan the warmonger landed in Washington (or since George McGovern said “Come home, America”) liberals longed for a foreign policy president who was up to their standards, was as “thoughtful” as they were, and understood all their dreams.

Someone who knew that talk of evil and good was always sophomoric, that the resort to force always was counterproductive, and that the crazy idea that this country was special — promoted by yahoos like Abraham Lincoln — was better described by their own Michael Kinsley as just another excuse to break rules.