Arafat Bites the Dust?

First Castro collapses, now Arafat is having health problems. Kim Jong-Il is probably wondering if someone's got a voodoo doll.

Powerline may have the best take on this...

It strikes me that Arafat's demise could only be a good thing. Not because his successor, or successors, couldn't possibly be worse; in some ways, they probably could. Rather, because Arafat's political persona--his receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize, his being feted by liberals on several continents, his status as Bill Clinton's most frequent house guest, his popularity in France, where his stylish wife resides--tends to mask the reality of his uninterrupted career as a terrorist, and to cast a certain confusion over the whole Arab-Israeli conflict.

Arafat's demise will probably lead to all sorts of pronouncements about how wonderful he was. Then again, we'll probably get the same thing when Castro bites it as well.