Women can register to vote? That must be conservative US foreign policy.

Wow and to think this is all happening in Osama's front lawn!! Somebody should ring him in his cave and give him the good news.

Good news indeed. If this all goes well, the Iranians will have an example functioning democracy on their doorstep and the contrast between theocracy and democracy will be highlighted for all their people to see.

May it be the harbinger of change in the region.

How did our soldiers pull this off (the America-haters must wonder)? Our troops are brave, intelligent, moral, and properly motivated.

France and Noam Chomsky must be really ticked.

90 Percent of Afghans Registered to Vote.

That's higher than most Western countries.

This might actually work.

The funniest part of the article: "Officials acknowledge cases of people registering more than once, but say a dab of indelible ink on every voter's finger will limit fraud on polling day."

The scariest part: " Shootings and explosions have killed at least nine election workers since May..."

That is excellent news. I was worried because in todays print washington post on page a16 there is an article titled "many afgans complain of hastily set elections." It sounds so ominous I just want to run to my local mosque and hide out till after the syrian and saudi elections. Opps, thats afgan and iraq, sorry!

I can't figure out if I am capilaist pig or an imperial dog. Life is just tooo confusing!

That's great! American impeerialeezm at its finest! Let's raise a toast to our dominating fascisct government led by the real life Machurian Candidate! You see? All of us "loony left" have been vindicated! This is proof that all Bush and company wants is to make the rest of the world exactly like zee Americans.

Womens rights? Voting rights?! How self-centered and imperialistic of us!

Vote Democrat! Stop the spread of imperialism!!

/*wipe spittle from chin.

Looks like the Taliban remnants are going to be very busy the next few months killing the 90% of Afghans who registered to vote.

What? Isn't that what they threatened to do?

That is really great news. Many more hurdles to get over of course, but this, hopefully, is giving lie to those that think 'Democracy' won't work for the ME. This must be making the Ickslamic fascists nervous. If you give a person a choice between freedom, and any other option, the choice is usually for freedom.

So, let's put things in their proper chronological order:

1) Under Bush's orders, the US military (and some allies) oust the Taliban

2) Bush establishes Democracy (and spreads "Freedom") in Afghanistan

3) Kerry calls for the birth of "Freedom" at his convention (even though that's already under way).

Let me guess...

4) Kerry TAKES CREDIT for elections in Afghanistan and high voter registration there (saying that it was his call for freedom which set these events in motion).

I'm just predicting the future based upon his past behavior..

:P

OT:

Poll: Support for Kerry Drops After Convention

From USA Today:

In the survey, taken Friday and Saturday, the Democratic ticket of Kerry and John Edwards trailed the Republican ticket of Bush and Dick Cheney 50% to 46% among likely voters, with independent candidate Ralph Nader at 2%.

Before the convention, the two were essentially tied, with Kerry at 47%, Bush at 46%.

The change in support was within the poll's margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points in the sample of 763 likely voters. But it was nonetheless a stunning result, the first time in the Gallup Poll since the 1972 Democratic convention that a candidate seemed to lose ground at his convention.

[Link: www.usatoday.com...]
 

God Bless GWB and the U.S. Armed Forces !!! Let Freedom Ring !!!

Hmmm, maybe the poor Afghanis can show the 'intellectual' Iraqis how this shit works.

Nothing such as this is easy, it's just maybe the Afghanis want it more...at least it sure as hell seems that way.

You can't tell me that since the Iraqis suffered so under saddam, and feel humiliated that Americans freed them, that they with their intellectual past, can't kick the baathist and the aq's out of the country.

Unocal is obviously bribing Afghans to register in order to pave the way for a pipeline. This voter drive is a hoax. And I bet evangelicals are endorsing Bush in the election and should lose their tax-exempt status.

/left

Awesome news!

LOL @ #11

OT
UK Muslims attack free speech:

[Link: www.aljazeerah.info...]

OT: "Arafat Loyalists Disrupt Talks With Gunfire"

The gunmen agreed, and they allowed the conference to proceed. About 90 Fatah members actually attended, Mr. Dwakat said.

In a separate incident in Jenin, to the north of Nablus, several thousand Palestinians marched in the streets to show support for gunmen of the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade, a radical faction linked to the Fatah movement.

Al Aksa members on Saturday ransacked and set alight the offices of Jenin's governor, Qadoura Mousa, and a building belonging to the Palestinian intelligence services.

The savages closing in on AfaRat..
[Link: nytimes.com...]

#12 William

Thanks, more great news. But, damn, way too early for a drinking thread.

This is genuine good news...which means it'll get zero coverage outside of the blogs and conservative columnists' work.

I think Afghanistan has a good chance of becoming a successful democratic nation; it won't become a first-world nation any time soon, because it will still be poor and the education levels will take time to rise, but it will most certainly be on the right path.

To be 100% honest I am not surprised in the least. In fact I would not be surprised to see this rise to 95%.

These people are taking part in something that is brand new and long past due. It is like a man dying of thirst being taken to a clean stream of cool water. Freedom and the right to vote for the leadership of your country is the greatest gift we can give our fellow man. Somewhere after WW2 we forgot that.

And do not underestimate the intelligence or potential of the Afghan people. I worked with two of them as Network Engineers and they are sharp, insightful and VERY productive. The Afghans here will be helping those in their homeland as well.

I firmly believe that in 10 years the middle east will not be anything like it is today as both Iraq and Afghanistan will be thriving and growing countries, with large immigration issues. ;)

I'm telling Matt. That's low class of you, "Metafilter". We wouldn't appreciate MeFites doing something like that to us.

Charles, hide that post?

Yeah. That stinks.

All i see is [deleted] Was it even on topic?

Bleeding heart conservative, not at all on topic. The guy posted a Metafilter login/password and asked us to use it to go vandalize their site.

#26 Bleeding heart conservative

No. Just a login to Metafilter.

I wonder if Osama registered...

The ass has already vandalized their front page with this (caution: goatse on the page and other nasty stuff).

Womens rights? Voting rights?! How self-centered and imperialistic of us!

I think this web site needs more PC tolerance.

Now that's class.

Jerk.

I got into a political debate with a table-full of my grandmother's girlfriends the other day. They were shocked that my brother and I (who was also present) were planning on voting for Bush. One of them said, "So your grandmother tells me you boys are going to vote for Bush." Apparently this is pretty big news in my family- two Bush supporters! I guess most members of my family fill the stereotype of the liberal, die-hard Jewish Democrats.

Anyway, these 80-somthing year-old Jewish ladies began bombarding my brother and I with the usual anti-Bush arguments as relating to the Middle East. Some quite viscious. One accused Bush of murdering 900 young men, referring to US casualties in Iraq (although I believe a little over 1000 soldiers have been killed in Iraq).

So, I pointed out that under Bush's leadership America has liberated some 50 million people (Iraq and Afghanistan) from tyranny, in places that have never known democracy, no less. They belittled this not-so-insignificant point as being meaningless and of little value.

One of them said something to the effect that, "Well it's not our [America's] responsibility to send our young men to die for other people like that. What about our problems at home?"

After enduring more LLL-style arguments and accusations I lost my cool. I blurted out:

"Well, it's no wonder the Holocaust happened on your watch. Yes, on your generation's watch!"

They gasped. I looked at all of them and continued:

"I guess saving Jews and other victims of the Nazis wasn't worth sending our boys to die for, huh? Using your logic, maybe we should never have sent our forces to fight the Nazis? I suppose we should just ignore the genocide in Sudan, huh?"

One of them leaned back in her chair and said, "Oh boy."

In retrospect, my argument was sort of unfair. Jews back then were extremely insecure in American society. There was a justified fear that if Jews made too much of a stink about what was happening in Nazi-occupied Europe then people in the US would say we were fighting the war "for the Jews."

Democracy may fail in Iraq and Afghanistan, but at least we'll know we tried to do the right.

Hi Zak! It was a little unfair, but only a little. You did good, I'm sure the shock value is enough to get some of them to step back and think a little.

They're making haste slowly in Afghanistan but that's okay; the changes, when they come, are going to be good and they're going to be on solid steady ground and be lasting. Women are taking the bit between their teeth and holding on. They aren't "demanding" or pushing the men too much; they didn't toss the Burkha right away; but when they do get a chance to make a change they grasp the opportunity firmly (like this right to vote) and don't let the new-found 'right' get away again.

The more I think about it, the more I think Afghanistan may turn out to be the big surprise in the Middle East. Afghanistan is quietly plodding along in the background of the news these days and it's only when you turn and look at her specifically, that you suddenly realize things have been happening there and for the good; this amassing of eligible voters (now 90% eligible have been registered!) and other things have quietly been happening under our noses. Maybe Afghanistan will turn out to be the political and economic success we had hoped for Iraq.

Whatever, Afghanistan seems to be managing without too much help Internationally, but slowly, slowly, catchee monkey! Gradually Afghanistan is grabbing its own reins and haulling herself up with her bootstraps. Good for Afghanistan! That's more like it! We can't always be there johnny-on-the-spot to help and if a country can at least TRY to manage till help can be gotten, and not slide into anarchy, then the International community is more willing to give that help when it is free to do so again. The country needing the help has demonstrated a willingness to make an effort and that's very encouraging, from any point of view.

Hey evariste,

Yeah, I think you are right- the sheer shock-value of it all might just get them to question their liberal theology.

WHo was it - i just heard it this morning on Meet the Press - some LLL politician saying that it was wrong for us ( the US ) to try to change the world, and that we should be trying to be more like the rest of the world.

NO THANK YOU.

Owl

Horray for Afganistan! Bet you won't see it on the news tonight.
The media is NOT your friend.

#36 foreign devil

The more I think about it, the more I think Afghanistan may turn out to be the big surprise in the Middle East.

That'd be nice. I've given up on Afghanistan since the word go.

My big take on it was always that we could expend 25 years worth of blood, sweat, and tears, billions of dollars in aid, and hundreds of soldiers' lives lost, and, in the end, Afghanistan would end up about as functional and productive as Albania.

It'd be nice to be surprised.

foreign devil: Afganistan is not in the Middle East, and its people are not Arabs.

Those are two advantages they have over the Iraqis.

#33 Zackwhich

That's a fair argument, if slightly insensitive. Hypocrisy is usually hanging out there when you debate LLLs. The question is, how hard do you want to hammer it? If you made them think, IMO, you hammered it just right.

Zakwhich, thanks for a great post. From where I sit--I'm a lifelong Christian--I find myself wondering how so many Jews can be locked into voting patterns based on their perceptions of the past. But old habits are hard to shake, I know. Can't your relatives and your grandmother's lib friends see how the left in this country has gone a long way toward demonizing Jews as the oppressors of those poor, unfortunate Arabs? But I know the times they are a changing, and I am thankful that so many bright young Jews are making the switch to political sanity.

No,no, no... Afghanistan is a FAILURE. A big FAILURE. I know this because the infinately wise and classy JeneanNe Garrafoilo said so, last night on cable news... So THERE.

I find myself wondering how so many Jews can be locked into voting patterns based on their perceptions of the past.

This argument is getting more and more on my nerves. It's not only Jews who are locked into voting democrat and perhaps you should consider that it's not just the democratic party that has changed but the republican party too. James "fuck the Jews, they don't vote for us anyway" Baker's remark didn't win too many Jewish hearts and minds. Besides, are we or aren't we as powerful as people make out? Is the future presidency relying totally on the Jewish vote? There are Jewish democrats and there are Jewish republicans. You know, just like all other people. If it makes you feel any better, I know a lot of Jews and only a couple of them are voting democrat. I'm not a Republican but wouldn't dream of voting for someone like Kerry.

Oops, sorry. That post was to Islamaphobe (#42).

In fact, I haven't spoken to those two people in a month or so. I'll have to check in and find out if they're still planning on voting democrat. At this point I think people should be embarrassed to be voting for that tool, Kerry.

Also, see SwampWoman's post and the one following it. People are changing how they vote, and that includes Jews.

zulubaby, I am so with that. I'm bored of people going "why do Jews vote for Democrats all the time" like every Jew is personally responsible for how other Jews vote. 2 Jews, 3 opinions. I think it might be more logical to look at the fact that an overwhelming majority of Jews live in huge ultraliberal cities where EVERYONE votes Democratic. Are the Jews voting Democrat because they have some weird Jews-voting-Democrat pathology? Of course not. It's just easy to vote for who everyone else where you live votes for, and it's hard for anyone to buck the trend and think for themselves, be they Jew or not. Israeli Jews voted a Likud government into power, which is way more right wing than Republicans are. There's no real complaint that anyone can make about Jewish voting patterns because everyone is entitled to vote their own conscience. There's no collective Jew "who do we vote for" conference. 19% of Jews voted Republican last time and it'll be higher this time. The history of WASP antisemitism, FDR's conduct of WWII and Democratic support of Israel are more than enough to explain the Jewish sympathy for the Democrats but as the facts and realities change, so is the trend of Jewish voting. This just isn't a very big mystery to me, but it certainly is boring to talk about. Like the weather, but more patronising "oh why don't these Jews know what's good for them?" WhatEVER.

People are changing how they vote, and that includes Jews.

I was on a plane next to a medical professional who persues an "alternative lifestyle" and he said he would be voting for Bush in the upcomming election. He said he normally votes for the democratic party candidate for obvious reasons, (his words), but he thought it would be irresponsible to vote for Kerry at this point in our nations history. He thinks Kerry lacks the strength of character to lead a nation during wartime. I couldn't find a reason to disagree with him.

evariste

Like the weather, but more patronising "oh why don't these Jews know what's good for them?"

Maybe that's what it is that gets up my nose.

Fawkes, that's great. I think that is what is happening with a lot of people. Another friend of mine said the same thing last week, that he will be voting for Bush (and that one was a hard sell!) Many of my friends are ex-South Africans and we were as liberal as can be. Growing up in Apartheid, did we have a choice? LOL. It's difficult to let go of thinking of myself as a democrat and the same goes for most of us, I'd think, but vote for Bush we will and not only because it's become a nightmare to try to identify with what the democratic party represents lately.

Also, there was an article yesterday about how so many republicans are voting for Kerry. I'm sure that some are but the article was weird and of course, there was no mention of how many democrats are voting for Bush. I have a feeling that there are plenty. Don't know if they're Jews or not ;-)

I'm glad my first instinct is "LLLs" and not "Jews."

Jews can vote for anyone they want to, but generic LLL arguments really bug me. Right wing Republicans have been known to bug me also. This website, due to the focus, mostly makes those problems go away.

Bush is by far a better candidate in foreign policy. This election is about foreign policy. The worst mistake Kerry ever made was tying his foreign policy to French and UN support. I'd vote twice for Bush if I could.

The New York Times is able to ignore UN and French corruption, but I can't.

Beagle, the Jews have their fair share of LLL's like everyone else and I'm certainly not denying that (how could I and keep a straight face ;-)

I certainly do not want to alienate any Jews who are going to vote for Bush, and I concede that in the past the kind of folks who kept Jews out of country clubs did plenty to justify the alienation of most Jews from the Republican party. But in my fairly long lifetime the vast majority of Jews I have known--and I have known plenty--have been politically liberal. It also seems to me, however, that the situation is changing rapidly, especially among those Jews who are relatively young. Don't be overly sensitive, zulubaby. There are obviously lots of other folks who have not yet been mugged by reality.

Islamaphobe, you're right, Jews are, by nature, liberal. But I see the sticking-with-the-democrats-at-all-costs changing. I apologize if I came across as snippy in my post to you because it wasn't really you personally who had annoyed me, it was seeing that same theme over and over again and I just get fed up with it. I am sensitive about a lot of things, I won't pretend that I'm not, but I didn't mean to take it all out on you.

Erm...

Are you sure this is true?

No network in the UK has covered this.

The BBC, that £3 billion pound news corp hasn't mentioned it.

None of the radio stations I've listened to have mentioned it.

Conspiracy anyone?

And I bet a majority of those who registered are devout Muslims.

But wait, aren't all devout Muslims, in fact just about all Muslims, terrorist-wannabes bent on Jihad? Don't they just want to be ruled by imams and warlords?

After all, that's what LGF tells me...

#42 Islamaphobe: As a devout Christian, of course you can't understand why many Jews would choose to vote for the Democrats. You are part of a party which wants to Christianize our society in violation of the letter and spirit of the Constitution of the United States. And don't give me the usual crap that the U.S. is a nation "founded by Christians, based upon Christian ideals." The first part of that statement may be true, but the second is not. There's that pesky First Amendment to the Constitution which makes it abundantly clear that our government is not based upon any religion. It is based upon the principle that those of any religion, or no religion at all, can participate in governing this country.

And, by the way Islamaphobe, there are a maybe just a few Christians who are planning to vote for the Democrats this November. Maybe not from your church, but certainly from mine.

Goredean -

You are part of a party which wants to Christianize our society in violation of the letter and spirit of the Constitution of the United States.

Can you cite specific actions to this end, and specific clauses of the Constitution which they supposedly violate?

I doubt it.

Two words - President Dean

#59 Goredean -

Wow, I am so shocked to learn that some Episcopalians are voting Democrat this year. Honest. Seriously. No joke. I kid you not. No $#it.

#60 Frank IBC:

1. Proposals to allow prayer or some sort of religious observance in schools.

2. Proposals to outlaw abortion, and curb or outlaw the use of birth control.

3. Proposals to prohibit assisted suicide even when a majority of a state's voters support it.

4. Proposals to criminalize private consensual sexual behavior not authorized by the Bible (allegedly) - these laws have been recently struck down by the Supreme Court.

5. Proposals that go way beyond the issue of gay marriage, by providing all sorts of civil disabilities to homosexuals.

[Link: www.cc.org...]

Goredean -

How are any of these proposals specifically "Christian"? With the possible exception of school prayer, it doesn't follow that one necessarily has to be a fundamentalist Christian to be in agreement with them. For example, Nat Hentoff is a Jewish atheist, who opposes abortion and euthanasia.

And how do any of the proposals violate the Constitution?

Goredean -

5. Proposals that go way beyond the issue of gay marriage, by providing all sorts of civil disabilities to homosexuals.

So the CC is supporting these? More power to them, I say.