December 6, 2004
GET UNREAL:
Color Us Orange: Ukrainians fight for liberty. (National Review, 12/06/04)
What can one say about the Orange Revolution, so successful in its
initial aim of forcing another presidential vote in Ukraine, except — "hurrah"?This is an awe-inspiring victory of nonviolent action. There have been a dozen days of protests, with hundreds of thousands of protesters and not one violent incident. Amazing. Credit goes to the cheated opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko, who has, for instance, insisted on a policy of sobriety at the rallies (NBA, take note), and to the demonstrators themselves, who have behaved in a way explicitly designed to forge a better politics in Ukraine. [...]
[T]he conduct of Yushchenko' supporters bodes well for the future. They have wedded Ukrainian patriotism to a democratic politics, putting to rest the old smear (a favorite of the KGB) that any gathering of Ukrainians nationalists is a
proto-fascist rally. They have a chance to create a country that has an entirely valid claim to join the institutions of the West.
There seems something extremely "unRealist" about this occurrence, but
thankfully nothing "unrealistic" at all. Posted by Matt Murphy at December 6, 2004 11:58 PM
Where did the notion of calling that crooked coterie of fellow travellers, small-time boodlers, and hucksters who suck up to every anti-American dictator throughout the world, 'realists?' Everything we have learned since January 20, 1981 tells us that their worldview, such as it is, has little to do with reality.
I can call myself Armand-Jacques du Plessis, Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu, but that doesn't make me the head of 17th century France.
Posted by: Bart at December 7, 2004 6:29 AMIt certainly is different than what happened in Venezuela after their crooked elections.
Posted by: Randall Voth at December 7, 2004 8:15 AM