George F. Will: "[D]ecades hence, historians will write about today's response to Russia by the West, perhaps in obituaries for the idea of 'the West.' If Obama does not speak to this crisis Thursday night, that will speak volumes."

He's right, of course. As you listen to the assembled Democrats prattle on from the dais, you are struck at how few of them mention the crisis in Georgia and the challenge Russian autocracy and aggression poses to the international order. When they do mention it, their claims are often absurd. John Kerry actually had the audacity to say Obama's response to the Russian invasion was the exemplar of a "statesman of the twenty-first century." Does that mean twenty-first century statesmen will apportion blame equally between despots and democrats?

The most important line of the convention proceedings last night was Bill Clinton's statement to the American people that Barack Obama is ready to swear the oath to "protect and defend" the Constitution of the United States of America. That meant something, coming from a former commander-in-chief who has expressed doubts about Obama's readiness in the past. Obama's challenge tonight is to persuade the public that Clinton is right.