From rising star, Ryan Sager, we get the following information about an independent poll in Afghanistan:
With the situation in Iraq seen by many as a mess, Afghanistan has a constitution, is registering voters and is moving toward holding a presidential election in October. And the survey of 804 randomly selected male and female Afghan citizens, commissioned by the Asia Foundation notes that:
* 64 percent say the country is heading in the right direction.
* 81 percent say that they plan to vote in the October election.
* 77 percent say they believe the elections will “make a difference.”
* 64 percent say they rarely or never worry about their personal safety, while under the Taliban only 36 percent felt that way.
* 62 percent rate President Hamid Karzai’s performance as either good or excellent.
This is Bush and Blair’s legacy. And they deserve every credit for it. Then in Iraq, in the New York Times, we read the following about preparations for a new assembly:
The biggest problem so far, organizers say, is that among the groups that want to take part, there has been an almost unmanageable number of candidates. In Kut, a Shiite city south of Baghdad, 1,248 people competed for 22 seats. In Najaf, a city considered sacred by Shiites because of its shrines, there were 920 candidates for 20 seats, prompting complaints from Mr. Sadr’s group and other leaders that the process was not inclusive or democratic enough.
The Arab world not ready for democracy? When candidates outnumber seats by four to one? This is a deeply encouraging sign – and it is Bush’s and Blair’s achievement as well.
DERB’S HERO: Remember when National Review’s in-house bigot, John Derbyshire, got all excited about a Scottish hotelier throwing a gay couple out of his bed and breakfast because they wanted to sleep in a double bed? The man is now running for the Scottish parliament on an anti-homosexual agenda. Not that he’s homophobic, of course. No one is, any more, are they? Here’s the money quote: “I am not homophobic. What they need is medical treatment because there’s something medically wrong with them. They need psychiatric treatment to get them out of it.” Why doesn’t Karl Rove offer the guy a job?
The Dish 