Breaking news:
Pentagon chief withdraws plea deal for 9/11 mastermind, two others; death penalty back on the table.

It was an old riddle: What happens when the irresistible force meets the immovable object? Of course, nothing is irresistible if something is immovable, so the question is meaningless. But we can rephrase it: What happens when a tsunami of public protest crashes against the marble walls of bureaucracy?

The answer is, usually nothing. The federal bureaucracy is close to immovable, as witness how the Secret Service adapts to new threats. The 20-year-old would-be assassin of President Trump used a drone to surveil the area, but the Secret Service had no drones.

Nevertheless, sometimes public opinion is so strong, and so obviously justified, that the bureaucracy actually moves a bit. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin cancelled the plea deal. Mastermind of 9/11 Khalid Sheikh Mohamed and his two assistants will NOT be released, will remain in Guantanamo, and will continue to face the death penalty. Of course, if they weren’t executed soon after 9/11, they almost surely never will be. But perhaps the thought keeps them up at night.

Kudos to Secretary Austin for showing that the immovable object actually can move a bit. Who knows? Actual Americans may indeed be an irresistible force. We’ll see on Nov. 5. To quote Hugh Hewitt: “If it’s not close, they can’t cheat.”