Monday, January 31, 2005

Day of Celebration


(Odd Andersen / AFP/ Getty Images)
The unbounded joy on the face of Iraqis as they left the polling places melted the icy cynicism of the watching journalists. "These are a people who voted at higher rates in the face of death than we do in the face of inconvenience (D Brooks, NY Times)." Iraq now has its first taste of that which America has enjoyed for over two centuries.

We, the jaded ones, are steeped in the vocabulary of democracy’s weaknesses--the pork-barrel, the gerrymander, the logroll--but only a cad will describe his marital problems to the young couple on their wedding night. Today is a day of celebration.

The path ahead will be tortuous and filled with setbacks, but it won’t take them as long as it took us. (Yes, Senator, I guarantee our troops will be out in less than 200 years.)

The seat of government in Baghdad (by the Bay).

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