There is an interesting and, for outsiders, rather amusing spat raging in Washington between neo-conservatives past and present. Francis Fukuyama, once a celebrated cheerleader for the muscular interventionism that led the US into war with Iraq, has recanted. The invasion was a mistake. The US cannot remake the tyrannies of the world in its own democratic image.

Such apostasy has greatly irritated those who believe that the mission to spread freedom and democracy around the world is George W. Bush’s last chance for an enduring legacy. Power never flows faster than away from a second-term president. Mr Bush has exhausted his political capital earlier than most. This week the president looked on helplessly as Republicans in Congress fought themselves to a standstill about immigration.