Written by: Beck

We will know better in the days that follow the exact statistics from the election. Turnout was high--exact numbers differ--even among the Sunni. The number of people killed in terrorist attacks was surprisingly small--exact numbers differ. Regardless, we'll know more in a few more days.

That's not what I want to discuss.

John Kerry on NBC's Meet the Press:

"No one in the United States should try to overhype this election," Kerry told NBC's "Meet the Press." [...] "It's hard to say that something is legitimate when a whole portion of the country can't vote and doesn't vote."

My problem is not specifically with John Kerry or even his specific quotation--though I do obviously have problems with them. My problem is with a mindset.

There is a mindset that exists among a significant minority of anti-war Americans (and a strong majority of Europeans) that refuses to allow for the existence of any sort of reality in which the policy of a Republican can be a successful one.

I mean, I would just call it sour grapes if Kerry and his intellectual companions were saying "even a stopped clock is right twice a day" or "I guess Bush had get something done successfully in Iraq." No, they cannot admit the possibility that even one thing could go well.

Fewer than 35 people die to attacks on a day which terrorists would have liked to be a replay of the Tet Offensive? Call the security insufficient. Almost every polling station open and operating without flaw or controversy? Emphasize that some people couldn't vote because polling stations didn't open on time. Turnout over 50% in areas that had threatened boycotts? Call the election illegitimate. Terrorist leaflets saying the streets would run with voters' blood proven hollow? Gripe about American leaflets encouraging Iraqis to vote (thank the UN for that one).

Sunday was quite simply one of the most amazing days in modern Arab history. What is wrong with people who simply can't see that? What is their psychological defect?

My mother is a die hard liberal. She's happy that women were able to vote and run for office. She opposed the war from the beginning, but recognizes that since we're there now, we have to do right by the Iraqis. My grandfather is a moderate and also opposed the war from the beginning, but he's unbelievably proud of the job our soldiers are doing in Iraq and delights in comparing them to the people he served with in World War II.

David Anderson thinks Bush is a terrible president, opposed the war from the beginning, and never misses a chance to point out the failings of Republican officials. Here's what he has to say:

You have to give it up. You have to put politics aside and give respect to the Iraqi people today. I felt some real kinship with the Iraqi people today, remembering growing up in the 60's where my own people voted under the threat of violence and under the watchful eye of protecting National Guardsmen.

They ignored threats, they braved suicide bombers, they voted and voted with pride. There will be people on my side of the fence who raise legitimacy issues. I am not going to go there. I watched the coverage, and cant see minimizing the courage of those who did vote, by expressing concern about those who chose not to. As far I could see, this was about as good as it could get in a country still torn by violence. The people came out and they voted, and they are expressing the kind of joy and pride I only wish we had in the U.S.. God Bless them.

Read what David says, then scroll back to the top of this and re-read the quote from John Kerry.

I think next I'll have to do a post on why the Republican party (and the nation as a whole) needs the existence of a healthy and sane Democratic party... and how John Kerry and his brethren are doing their damnedest to prevent any such thing.

Update: Captain Ed makes a similar observation.

Moderate Democrats must be puzzled and at least somewhat concerned that their leadership has allowed itself to become so infected with Bush hatred that they can no longer recognize opportunities to build trust with the American electorate on national security. The automatic gainsay of anything accomplished by the Bush administration has almost completely destroyed their credibility -- and the measured and intelligent reactions of Chirac, Schroeder, and Annan shows how badly the Democrats screwed up today.