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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (97879)	1/31/2005 9:11:49 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793845

PURPLE BADGE OF COURAGE New York Post By DEBORAH ORIN IT was the blue badge of courage — Iraqis defied evil and danced through the Valley of the Shadow of Death to cast their ballots and then wave the purple ink-stained fingers that proved they'd voted. The sheer joy recalled the fall of the Berlin Wall, some said, but the Germans dancing around that wall didn't have to face down evil because communism had already fallen, while Iraqis knew they risked death — and more than 30 were killed. "The people have won . . . Take a look today to meet the model of courage and human desire to achieve freedom, people walking across the fire to cast their votes," proudly wrote the Iraqi bloggers Mohammed and Omar. For over a year the two brothers — whose Internet site is "Iraq the Model" — have recounted Iraq's daily life and their hopes for freedom and yesterday they told of their joy at dipping their fingers in purple ink. "I walked forward to my station, cast my vote and then headed to the box where I wanted to stand as long as I could, then I moved to mark my finger with ink. I dipped it deep as if I was poking the eyes of all the world's tyrants," one of the brothers wrote. "I put the paper in the box and with it, there were tears that I couldn't hold. I was trembling with joy and I felt like I wanted to hug the box but the supervisor smiled at me and said, 'Brother would you please move ahead, the people are waiting for their turn.' " Another Iraqi blogger, Alaa ("The Mesopotamian") wrote: "Iraq will be OK with so many brave people, it will certainly [be] OK. I can say no more just now, I am just filled with pride and moved beyond words." "Baghdad Rose" — an Iraqi woman blogger who identifies herself as a 27-year-old civil engineer with a daughter aged 3 — posted a picture of her blue-tipped finger in a V-for-victory sign on her Web site. "I did it. I voted. Yes, yes, I did it. I have the courage to vote," she wrote in triumph. Indeed the high turnout among Iraqi women was a surprise — the same as last year in Afghanistan when some women, facing death threats from Taliban remnants, said the Muslim prayer for the dead, just in case, before they went to vote. No wonder President Bush could hardly contain his smile yesterday when he said: "Today the people of Iraq have spoken to the world, and the world is hearing the voice of freedom from the center of the Middle East." The fact that Iraq's election triumph came as a surprise to so many Americans shows how badly they have been served by most press and TV coverage, which told mostly of deaths and trouble and ignored the first glimmerings of new hope. Iraqis, after all, lived through decades when Saddam Hussein fed people to Doberman Pinschers and plastic shredders and murdered hundreds of thousands who were buried in mass graves. Iraq's blue badge of courage also poses a challenge to America's Democratic Party — do Democrats really want to become the party of Ted Kennedy, John Kerry and Howard Dean, who paint Iraq as a disaster? After Iraqis showed their yearning for freedom, do Democrats really want Dean as their new national chairman? Are they proud of lionizing "Fahrenheit 9/11" film-maker Michael Moore for painting Iraq's terror thugs as heroes and "Minutemen"? All the Iraqis dancing with their flags yesterday were a reason for Americans to be proud of the war that toppled Saddam Hussein and opened the door to freedom — suddenly Bush's second inaugural speech just 10 days before sounded prophetic. "All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know the United States will not ignore your oppression or excuse your oppressors," Bush said then. "When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you." Deborah Orin is The Post's Washington bureau chief. NEW YORK POST

To: LindyBill who wrote (97879)	1/31/2005 9:23:17 AM
From: greenspirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793845

It's classic to look back just a few short years and see some of the quotes in the MSM regarding the Iraq election. ABC, CNN, and NBC Touted Saddam 100-Percent “Vote” in 2002 Will They Dismiss a Real Vote, When They Fell for a Fraud? While the network news gurus have spent weeks questioning whether Sunday’s elections in Iraq would (A) occur on time or (B) be accepted as legitimate, it’s important to remember that when Saddam Hussein called a vote in October 2002 as coalition troops moved into place, ABC, CNN, and NBC accepted the dictator’s “100 percent” vote as a credible plebiscite, not a joke. To his credit CBS’s Tom Fenton explained why everyone voted aye: “You would be foolish not to — a U.N. human rights report said 500 people were jailed in the last referendum after casting a negative ballot.” But other networks, desperate for access into Saddam’s Iraq, played dumb and parroted the dictator’s script: ¦ “Iraqi citizens are preparing to go to the polls to decide whether Hussein stays in office.” — Preview of an October 14, 2002 segment on CNN’s American Morning with Paula Zahn posted on CNN’s Web site. ¦ “Seven years ago, when the last referendum took place, Saddam Hussein won 99.96 percent of the vote. Of course, it is impossible to say whether that’s a true measure of the Iraqi people’s feelings.” — ABC reporter David Wright, World News Tonight, October 15, 2002. ¦ “All 11,440,638 eligible voters went to the polls with one thought: Yes to Saddam Hussein! The government proclaimed it a victory of light over darkness, good over evil. It seemed more like a political miracle.“ — NBC reporter Keith Miller on Today, October 16, 2002. ¦ Diane Sawyer: “I read this morning that he’s [Saddam Hussein] also said the love that the Iraqis have for him is so much greater than anything Americans feel for their President because he’s been loved for 35 years, he says, the whole 35 years.” Dan Harris in Baghdad: “He is one to point out quite frequently that he is part of a historical trend in this country of restoring Iraq to its greatness, its historical greatness. He points out frequently that he was elected with a 100 percent margin recently.” — ABC’s Good Morning America, March 7, 2003. mediaresearch.org

To: LindyBill who wrote (97879)	1/31/2005 9:08:56 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793845

Instpundit - MICKEY KAUS offers an explanation for the Democrats' political tin ear this week: Internet fundraising is tilting their message toward the fringe. Sounds plausible. It has to be something. I just heard Michael Ignatieff on the radio basically explaining to liberal that anti-democratic and pro-fascist was not ground they wanted to stake out, even if taking a pro-democracy stand meant they had to share common cause with (shudder) "neo-conservative bombast". The (not-very) liberals have been shamed by the Iraqi voters into being for democracy. Now they are working hard to give the credit to the Iraqis and American soldiers while denying any to the Bush administration.