Another Reason for Optimism

The first post in this blog was about the first round of voting in Iraq. At the time, it was a remarkable event. Yesterday's voting seemed quite usual. The Iraqui people for the third time in less than a year went to the polls in very heavy numbers and chose a set of representatives. Are the people who were chosen going to be all American supporters? Of course not. But has this important area of the world taken another step toward something important? Yes. One of the best comments I heard from one person there yesterday was the remark "Every voter took a shot in the heart at the insurgents."