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Last updated on March 5th, 2018 at 01:40 pm
Good news from Iraq? Who’d ever have thought! Arthur Chrenkoff presents a two-week supercompilation of cheery Iraqi news, including vast campaign and election day coverage.
Meanwhile, Jeff Jarvis detects a curious lack of celebration among US leftoid sites. What’s up with that? The same tumbleweedy sound can be heard among local lefties. Why, they seem almost as withdrawn as they were the day Saddam was captured.
Well, not all of them. Here, a Democratic Underground funster responds to the view that the elections were “a resounding success�?:
Until Iraqi insurgents deliver a pillow case full of fingers dipped in ink to the nearest American commander because that’s what I would do if I were an insurgent leader
Don’t ever give up your dream, little guy! Another happy fellow finds artistic inspiration in the murder of Iraqi voters; tee hee! Guy got blowed up!
And these people used to complain about “disenfranchised” voters in Florida …
UPDATE. Lefty Mark Bahnisch speaks for his fellows:
I doubt that I want to say very much about the current situation in Iraq actually
Yeah. It’s too good.
UPDATE II. John Podhoretz:
There are literally millions of Americans who are unhappy today because millions of Iraqis went to the polls yesterday. And why? Because this isn’t just a success for Bush. It’s a huge win. It’s a colossal vindication.
It’s a big fat gigantic winning vindication of the guy that the Moores and Kennedys and millions of others still can’t believe anybody voted for.
And they know it.
And it’s killing them.
UPDATE III. Another instructive guide to left-wing election opinion.
- I’ve just e-mailed that ‘creative’ knobhead. His cartoon, and his hole site in fact, is about as funny as finding skidmarks in your girlfriend’s knickers.Posted by Craig UK on 2005 01 31 at 08:54 AM • permalink
- The thing about that cartoon is that it backfires. It depicts the US soldier as favouring democracy and caring about the opinions and future of the Iraqi voter (in the first panel). The terrorists, by contrast, ignored the soldier and killed an Iraqi. So it really sends the opposite message to what the dimwitted cartoonist probably intended.Posted by Evil Pundit on 2005 01 31 at 08:59 AM • permalink
- Speaking of gloom’n’doom SBS’s Mary Kostakidis hosted Paul McGeough at newstime.Not looking wildly chipper he opined darkly that Iraq was”turning a corner ON A VERY CROOKED ROAD. Either ABC or SBS spent a good 5 minutes on the plight of Israeli settlers demonstrating against Sharon’s evicting them from Gaza.Like they are sooo unhappy about that.(They’re never happy unless they’re painting Sharon into some kind of corner.)McGeough must have perused this post because he never metioned “Civil War” but handed trusty O’Brien the baton.Looking as happy as if he’d paid a visit to Marathon Man’s dental den, Kerry chose his promo to highlight the fatal phrase.Mark Willacy on ABC news was also a Mr Glum but the most impressive rhetoric was spouted by Beazley.HE GUSHED ‘I’ve been so inpressed by the BRAVERY of the Iraqi people that I think we (Australia) should pull our troops out now!! Talk about pulling the rug out from under… wouldn’t you like to see HIM representing us in the Australian Open or the World Economic Forum!
- tim, the link to DU is blocked. This is displayed:
The page you requested cannot be displayed because you do not have access to this forum or this forum is currently offline. If you wish to access this forum, please contact the administrator of this site.
Guess redirects from your site are blocked. Imagine that!
However, if you copy the DU link, and paste it into your browser, you read the whole silly thread. Which includes at least 2 deleted messages, and one person pointing out that “Bush might right this time”.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2005 01 31 at 09:12 AM • permalink
- The_Real_JeffS-
You can get to the DU links via Instapundit.
Jan 30th posting, with some great rebuttals/fisking from Steve Stirling.Posted by Bucky Katt on 2005 01 31 at 10:14 AM • permalink
- Silence on the left. And this is a bad thing why?Posted by richard mcenroe on 2005 01 31 at 11:05 AM • permalink
- The cartoonist hits back: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132×1549163
- Bucky, I was able to read DU, I just had to copy the short cut and paste it into the URL window of my browser. I had a good snort over it, and over the comments rexie linked to!
I enjoy reading DU now and then. It’s rather like reading psychological case studies of paranoid schizophrenics.
One note—you have to edit the URL to delete the redirect link first. Delete everything to the left of “http://www.democratic…..”
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2005 01 31 at 12:02 PM • permalink
- Top story at Salon.com: The Macintosh.Posted by Jim Treacher on 2005 01 31 at 02:24 PM • permalink
- The_real_JeffS-
Pretty pathetic that DU is blocking URL referrals from timblair.net. You would think they would appreciate the business! 😉
Posted by Bucky Katt on 2005 01 31 at 03:10 PM • permalink
- Being a gloomy bastard is fun for some people.
Remember the picture of the cute anarchist boy (I do), he was really having a great time feeling all cool and superior and serious and cute and….stuff.
One of the links for this post does not seem to be operational. It just says “Forbidden”, which makes me want to see it even more.
Posted by Major Anya on 2005 01 31 at 03:17 PM • permalink
- I’ve never been able to understand what point Mark Bahnisch is making, and this is no exception.
CS still nipping around the heels, scoring minor points in an argument already lost.
All these labels….what must get them down is that to date all their clever discussions (or self indulgent ramblings) are of no real value or benefit to anyone.
- Even Wonkette’s wit has failed her today. Oh, wait.Posted by Jim Treacher on 2005 01 31 at 04:59 PM • permalink
- If you don’t live in Iraq you worry about women’s rights under democracy.Posted by Sensible Swim on 2005 01 31 at 07:39 PM • permalink
- Until Iraqi insurgents deliver a pillow case full of fingers dipped in ink to the nearest American commander because that’s what I would do if I were an insurgent leader
Actually, I’m dreading that one of the terrorists will try something like that. But the DU denizen shouldn’t be so eager since it would be nothing more than an act of spite: the votes have been cast, cutting off fingers won’t stop that. Though I’m not surprised the idea has that much appeal to some of the folks at DU.
Posted by Patrick Chester on 2005 01 31 at 11:58 PM • permalink
- The “curious lack of celebration” among the left is hardly surprising. Maybe they’d prefer to wait and see how the bomb-’em-into-the-voting-booths model of democracy plays out before celebrating. To do otherwise would be as foolhardy as Tim Blair celebrating “the end (or near end) of a war” when Saddam was captured 20 months ago.
- Odd, I don’t recall seeing any reports of the Iraqis needing to be chased to the polling centers by walking explosives towards them.
I do recall plenty of predictions from the left of bloodbaths on election day and how the Iraqis weren’t “ready” for democracy.
Posted by Patrick Chester on 2005 02 01 at 02:40 AM • permalink
- Maybe they’d prefer to wait and see how the bomb-’em-into-the-voting-booths model of democracy plays out before celebrating.
Maybe, Janie. But given that these same lefties celebrate elections only when they live them, and reject those that they lose by hiring lawyers, I have my doubts that their silence is merely due to their patient wait-and-see attitude.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2005 02 01 at 02:55 AM • permalink
- Flute, quit with the crap. I already banned one guy.Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2005 02 01 at 08:28 AM • permalink
- And that goes for “Janie” too.Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2005 02 01 at 08:29 AM • permalink
- Andrea, I’m just putting forward a moral question. It is an idea of ethics that in certain circumstances the law must be broke for the greater good. However, you must then subject yourself to the legal process to judge whether you are guilty of a crime. All I am saying is in a court, what would the verdict be for the actions of the coalition of the willing?
By the way, could you adhere to your own rules and stop the “Flute, quit with the crap” type ad hominem attacks.
- Flute, 40,000 French civilians lost their lives during D-day. Do you think the liberation of Europe was justified? Do you think the Allies should have been charged with war crimes?Posted by Art Vandelay on 2005 02 01 at 07:57 PM • permalink
- Nice cop-outPosted by Art Vandelay on 2005 02 01 at 11:10 PM • permalink
- Tim, that’s very selective quotation. I also said later in the comments thread (a post on the Iraqi elections at Troppo Armadillo):
“I mostly agree with this (that this election is a good place to start, despite the difficult situation in Iraq), support the elections, and largely agree with Rob’s position as well (that Iraq was pretty infertile soil for trying to plant a democracy and that the best wishes of everyone on the planet were with the Iraqis).”
The commenter Rob with whom I was agreeing writes for Quadrant, as I understand it.
I’d intended to post on the Iraq elections, but didn’t want to write another post which would have stolen Sophie’s thunder when I saw that she’d written one.
This “silence of the left” thing is no doubt very amusing, but as has been noted around the sphere, a lot of lefty bloggers have actually had something to say about it.
I’d personally be very surprised if there were too many lefties who opposed elections and democracy (with the exception probably of the Marxist left). I support elections and democracy, am glad that the Iraq elections have taken place, and hope that the outcome brings legitimacy to a sovereign Iraq government.
Posted by Mark Bahnisch on 2005 02 01 at 11:48 PM • permalink
- See my trackback, and Barista, plenty of us on the left posted on the elections, and handed out cautious congratulations. The big RWDB backslap that went aroudn the blogosphere just conveniently ignored us. I may be a bit player, but Barista isn’t.Posted by Martin Pike on 2005 02 02 at 11:08 PM • permalink
