THE CORNER - "THE FEELING WAS 1776...THIS WAS THE BERLIN WALL IN 1989" [K. J. Lopez]
Despite all his flaws, there is something to legimitely appreciate in Geraldo Rivera's enthusiastic reporting, comparatively.
Posted at 01:39 PM
TURNOUT, IN CONTEXT [K. J. Lopez]
Whatever the final number winds up being, Roger Simon makes a good point.
Posted at 01:38 PM
MEANWHILE, OVER AT THE DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND [K. J. Lopez]
"The Iraq vote is making me sick."
Posted at 01:35 PM
IRAQ IS NOW THE HOME OF THE BRAVE [Michael Novak]
My wife Karen and I stayed up until four am this morning watching in excitement as the polls opened in Iraq, and the early two hours went peacefully, and resolve gathered, and the voters streamed in. It was a beautiful example of bravery. There were many tears of joy. There were marvelous expressions such as: I would be willing to die, rather than say that I had not voted. It was an incredibly moving panorama, as FOX took viewers round the country.
Some thoughts: As of January 30, 2005, the government of Iraq will now have more legitimacy from the grand consent of the governed than any other regime in the region. Iraq the model, indeed.
The Arab press of the region, it is reported, are in some awe at what they have seen, and are calling it the beginning of a new future.
Third, Mr Z and his foreign terrorists and local henchmen have been demonstrated to be a lunatic fringe of the small minority that did not vote. They can no longer claim to be an "insurgency," and certainly not to speak for the Iraqi people. They are a lunatic, murderous fringe, worthy of the contempt of free women and free men. They are a disgrace to Islam and to all humanistic values.
Fourth, democracy really is the new name for peace. It is manifestly a new word for joy, celebration, pride, and bravery. The home of the brave does become the home of the free, and it is very satisfying for the American soul to be standing at the side of the brave, in the act by which they become free.
Fifth, the tactic of three concentric rings of protection around each polling place---the Iraqi police at the core, the Iraqi National Guard in the middle ring, and the Coalition forces in the outer, third ring--turned out to be brilliant. The performance of those in the inner rings was professional, confident, courteous. They seemed to feel all the more confident for having the Coalition at their backs, ready to spring to their aid. Their own inner strength seemed to be doubled by that outer support. Their fortitude multiplied many-fold the range and capacities of the Americans. A well-conceived plan, gentlemen of the military and Iraqi leaders alike! Well done.
There is a special joy the act of freedom brings, especially when it is performed under the fear of death, in visible bravery. It seems an act of the sort the Creator made us to perform, at the top of our powers! It is a thing of beauty.
Posted at 01:31 PM
KENNEDY [John Podhoretz]
The Iraq elections are Teddy Kennedy's Vietnam.
Posted at 01:28 PM
"A REVOLUTION HAPPENING" [K. J. Lopez]
An exit poll of sorts.
Posted at 01:27 PM
THEM AND US [Jim Robbins]
Husayn does his bit for voter turnout: "I am happy to report that I found very few people during my post-voting trip through Baghdad who had not voted. I even got a few to "convert" and go out and vote. When confronted with the fact that staying away from voting was futile, some who had opposed the election relented, and went and made their mark." I can't get over the contrast between the optimism and positive outlook coming from Iraqis and the generic notion prevalent amongst US opinion makers that the Iraqi people were not up to the challenge of voting. These are brave people with hearts filled with hope. Our press kept making it sound like they were frightened, dispirited, defeated. If the vote is going better than expected it is only because expectations had been driven so low.
Posted at 01:16 PM
THE "INSURGENTS" [Jim Robbins]
Reporter Christopher Allbritton, posting early in the morning: "So far, not as much violence as everybody feared. The question is why? Is the insurgency taking a pass on this one? (It's possible. Our sources in the insurgency say the election will make no difference to them, so why expend a lot of energy?)" Now there's a convincing line from the terrorists. After threatening to make the election a cataclysm, after all the bluster and press coverage in the weeks leading up to it, they wimp out and say it didn't really matter to them anyway. Right! And commentators were wondering if the election would be legitimate? I think the terrorists are the ones with the credibility crisis.
Posted at 01:16 PM
PRETTY BOY GOES FLOPPO [John Podhoretz]
On Meet the Press and on MSNBC, newly minted anchor Brian Williams is talking down the election -- you can't trust the participation numbers, a lot of what we've seen in Arab media isn't as positive as President Bush's speech. Then he admits he doesn't know what he is talking about because he was "confined" to his area because of the threat of pedestrian suicide bombers. In other words, Iraqis went to the polls but he stayed behind barbed wire, and seems to be peeved because he didn't witness enough. A genuinely, horrifyingly disgraceful performance. |
