No one should pretend, of course, that the violence will now end rapidly. But the display of determination by all Iraqis to participate in the democratic process must have made a deep impression on all but the most hardened terrorists. The fact that so many Sunnis trooped to the polling stations for the first time, having boycotted the previous two national votes, sends the clear message that the community which most of the insurgents pretend to represent wants peace, not violence. Nor are they prepared to be intimidated by the killers in their midst. They want to become part of the political process.
….
Beginning today, this is democracy’s chance in Iraq. Massive hopes are riding on the success of the political process. Nevertheless, providing men of moderation can hold the center ground and bring more extreme politicians at least to its edge, the new Parliament can work. A muscular broad-based administration will only emerge if politicians are prepared to work together for the greater good. Now is not the time for individual political aspirations to come to the fore. Future Iraqis will honor all those who today focus on stability rather than their own ambitions.
(Updated to remove the evidence of a horrible cutting-and-pasting accident. Lesson: don't post while half-asleep.)
10 comments:
There oughtta be a dedicated word for it--the rising above current, or local, or even personal principle for a gamble at a future so much better than the present that the risk just cannot be avoided by a leader of good will, because the opportunity is grand, and fleeting.
Think, Lincoln--and his willingness to skirt the Constitution in order to save the thing that the Constitution created.
I'm changing your name to Cicero.
Ah, yer, bread and circuses! fine 'til the Barbs arrive--as they always do.
but i'm all for election-rule reform. scrap HAVA and start over, I agree. in the meantime, tell your reps to quit gaming.
BTW, some of those urban poll ques were around the block--it wasn't THAT easy to cast a vote in Iraq yesterday.
Re cut-paste accident--I'd assumed you were quoting, and just forgot to set it up as such. don't worry, it was obviously not *you*!
\;-)
buddy, 9:12:
Somebuddy's Gotta Do It!
(full disclosure: I too love that first post.
- Our watered down pc feelgood "language" promises everything for nothing... Nothing there.)
markg8,
I seem to recall that HAVA was passed to appease Democratic bitching about the 2000 election. Indeed, there are still sites out there promoting it, such as Activote, that bear all the signs of being Democratic front organizations funded by big money. The claim to be a grassroots organization is the usual clue to such front organizations.
Anyway, see where narrow partisan thinking gets you? It is one of the things I hold against Democrats these days.
The bold-faced quotation seems to be a direct refutation of the memo sent out by Harry Reid, quoted in the post above this one. But I don't think the Democrats really believe that there are any people outside of the US. It's not soft racism so much as it is massive provincialism, coupled with hubris.
The bold-faced quotation seems to be a direct refutation of the memo sent out by Harry Reid, quoted in the post above this one.
Yeah, isn't that funny? It's as if the Arab News knew what was coming.
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