THESE PROPOSALS for giving the military law-enforcement powers are a dreadful idea. Soldiers make lousy police. After a while acting as police, they make lousy soldiers, too. That the idea comes from the unimpressive Tom Ridge doesn’t make it any more, er, impressive.

The home front in the war on terrorism has been a pathetic morass of dumb PR moves, incompetence, and vaguely Orwellian proposals. This is another example, combining elements of all three. (And, of course, there’s this one, too.)

We’d better win this war on the ground in Iraq — and Saudi Arabia — because it’s not going to be won at home. Nobody ever won by playing defense. And our homeland defense team looks to be junior-varsity, at best.

UPDATE: This story from the Washington Times makes it sound more like a Biden initiative. He’s behind the dumb and dangerous RAVE Act too. Biden’s turned into a civil-liberties menace. Good thing Dick Armey’s standing up for civil liberties.