50 percent of Americans, it turns out, approve of Barack Obama's handling of terrorism. One wonders what exactly they're approving -- or, for the 21 percent who disapprove, disapproving -- of. (The alternate response to this poll result is to say that Americans strongly feel closing Guantanamo and reversing Bush-era policies on torture will improve our image abroad and ultimately strengthen us against terrorism. I don't believe we live in John Dewey's perfect democracy and so I don't imagine that's what's behind the poll result, but I do believe that that last sentence is an excellent segue to linking to Jane Mayer's thoughtful and troubling article exploring how Obama will deal with the toughest of terrorist cases. See how I did that? That's why I'm a professional.)
