Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today that North Korea would be taken off of the U.S. list of state sponsors of terror and will no longer be sanctioned under the Trading with Enemies Act. And what does North Korea have to do to get these long-sought rewards? Basically, do what it had promised to do months ago -- provide an exhaustive declaration of its nuclear activities. The new concessions follow the disclosure last fall of intelligence demonstrating that North Korea was helping Syria with its nuclear program.

The lesson: Break promises and proliferate and the State Department will reward you.

If John McCain is looking for places to break with the Bush administration, its Clinton-lite approach to North Korea would be a good place to start.