Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

Badge of courage

Deborah Orin:

IT was the blue badge of courage — Iraqis defied evil and danced through the Valley of the Shadow of Death to cast their ballots and then wave the purple ink-stained fingers that proved they'd voted.

The sheer joy recalled the fall of the Berlin Wall, some said, but the Germans dancing around that wall didn't have to face down evil because communism had already fallen, while Iraqis knew they risked death — and more than 30 were killed. "The people have won . . . Take a look today to meet the model of courage and human desire to achieve freedom, people walking across the fire to cast their votes," proudly wrote the Iraqi bloggers Mohammed and Omar.

For over a year the two brothers — whose Internet site is "Iraq the Model" — have recounted Iraq's daily life and their hopes for freedom and yesterday they told of their joy at dipping their fingers in purple ink.

"I walked forward to my station, cast my vote and then headed to the box where I wanted to stand as long as I could, then I moved to mark my finger with ink. I dipped it deep as if I was poking the eyes of all the world's tyrants," one of the brothers wrote.

"I put the paper in the box and with it, there were tears that I couldn't hold. I was trembling with joy and I felt like I wanted to hug the box but the supervisor smiled at me and said, 'Brother would you please move ahead, the people are waiting for their turn.' "

Another Iraqi blogger, Alaa ("The Mesopotamian") wrote: "Iraq will be OK with so many brave people, it will certainly [be] OK. I can say no more just now, I am just filled with pride and moved beyond words."

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The fact that Iraq's election triumph came as a surprise to so many Americans shows how badly they have been served by most press and TV coverage, which told mostly of deaths and trouble and ignored the first glimmerings of new hope.

Iraqis, after all, lived through decades when Saddam Hussein fed people to Doberman Pinschers and plastic shredders and murdered hundreds of thousands who were buried in mass graves.

Iraq's blue badge of courage also poses a challenge to America's Democratic Party — do Democrats really want to become the party of Ted Kennedy, John Kerry and Howard Dean, who paint Iraq as a disaster?

After Iraqis showed their yearning for freedom, do Democrats really want Dean as their new national chairman? Are they proud of lionizing "Fahrenheit 9/11" film-maker Michael Moore for painting Iraq's terror thugs as heroes and "Minutemen"?