Freedom is on the Sprint
Forget marching; freedom's practically galloping around the Middle East. Though Bush's second inaugural address was mocked for its alleged naivetey and grandiosity ("its words are meaningless," declared "Armando" over at Daily Kos), its beginning to look downright prophetic just a month and a half later.
Three days later, Viktor Yushchenko formally took office in Ukraine. A week after that, Iraq held free elections that moved even some of the war's staunchest foes. Nine days after that, Israel and Palestine negotiated a temporary cease fire. Two days after that, Saudi Arabia held local elections for the first time ever. Eighteen days after that (IE: yesterday), the people of Lebanon took to the streets and essentially overthrew their pro-Syrian government.
To what degree each of these events were influenced by the growing democracies in Afghanistan and Iraq, we cannot know. But we do know that whatever is happening, it is happening quickly, and Bush's actions are, if not the cause of it, certainly a part of it. This kind of ripple effect, if that's indeed what we're seeing, is supposed to take years, not months.
There are some things you just shouldn't bet against. Chief among them, and just a few notches above Brett Favre, is freedom. Bush, for all his verbal missteps and alleged incuriousity, knows this, and it covers a multitude of sins.
» March 1st, 2005
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