Let me try to sort out my conflicting feelings about Sharon's plight. First of all, now that he reminds me less of Il Duce and more of Generalissimo Francisco Franco, my heart truly goes out to him. I pray for his recovery -- as a human being, as a Jew, and as one who in the past was a great leader. In fact, as much as I disagree with what he has done for the past three years and, especially, with the way he has done it, I know that there is no steadier hand on the trigger when something needs to get done. After him, we face the danger of small fry committed to some fiction called "Moreshet Sharon" but without any of the qualities of leadership necessary to put on the brakes when necessary. Been there, done that, got burned.

But let me not sound pious. I do not wish to see Sharon return to politics. (DELETED) The man has been a serious menace. There is nothing more dangerous than the kind of autocrat, accustomed to being surrounded by flunkies and yes-men, whose wife has died. For such people, wives are the last reality check and when they go, all restraint goes with it. (Think of Rav Shach zt"l or, yibadel lechaim arukim, Rav Ovadiah Yosef.)

I am especially not sorry (under the circumstances, the phrase "positively gleeful" seems inappropriate) about the plight of all of Sharon's flunkies. In retrospect, the creation of Kadimah was akin to luring all the slimiest Israeli politicians onto the Titanic. Without Sharon, it will sink slowly but surely, with Israel's two most despised politicians, Olmert and Peres, squabbling over control of the lifeboats. With any luck, Tzippi Livni -- whose utter lack of charm, grace and charisma is occasionally mistaken for intelligence -- will go down with them. Uri Dan, who no longer serves any useful purpose, will be out of a job by the end of the week. Omri Sharon, who just lost his get-out-of-jail-free card, will not pass Go and will not collect $200.

Oh, the humanity.