THINGS FALL APART: Normally, the nicest thing one can say about Charles Krauthammer's work is that it persuasively rebuts the conventional wisdom about broken clocks. Today's column, however, is a bit different, in that it's actually, you know, pretty much right: Ariel Sharon's sudden exit from the Israeli political scene may well turn out to be a tragedy of historic proportions.

"THE MAGNITUDE OF THE CURRENT COLLECTION EFFORT IS UNPRECEDENTED..." Over at Slate, Shane Harris and Tim Naftali add a bit of historical perspective to the domestic eavesdropping debate.