William Kristol

The captain of the ms Noordam has announced that due to the choppy seas we won't be able to put in, as planned, at Santorini—but that rather than having another day at sea, we're boldly heading off to dock at Iraklion, Crete.

I'm not sure what this means with respect to THE WEEKLY STANDARD cruise/Republican party analogy. On the one hand, it's a demonstration of quick thinking and crisp decision-making by our captain. This is presumably a good omen for the GOP. On the other hand, what we'll see in Crete is the reconstructed Palace of Knossos, a reminder of a once-great civilization. This has less encouraging implications.

Maybe we'll learn at the Archaeological Museum whether it was the Cretan tea party or the Knossos palace establishment who were more responsible for the fall of Minoan civilization. Or maybe they were simply done in by the Thera volcano. I'm not sure how that fits into the analogy.