This is great news as well, today.

Interesting take on how Z-Man's demise influenced the defeat of this bill:

Things looked very grim at the beginning of the week. What made the difference? Zarqawi didn’t hurt, for sure. If they got cloture in the Senate today, senators would have likely spent the next week debating the Akaka bill instead of the Defense-authorization bill. That would have looked great. Senators aren’t that blind.

The present disenchantment south of the border arises in part because in Washington the alleged greatness of the "great men" has become entirely unmoored from the great questions of the day. It's like watching a sporting fixture where you can no longer tell what game they're playing.