The White House just
announced that Bush will be addressing the nation from the Oval Office on Sunday at 9pm about the recent elections in Iraq. I am not sure how many televised speeches Bush has given from the Oval Office, but I can only remember a handful (namely the night of 9/11, announcing the aerial campaign against Afghanistan, announcing the ulitmatum to Saddam, and announcing the beginning of the bombing of Iraq... am I missing any?) According to Scottie,
"The Iraqi people have just concluded a historic election and we now are entering a critical period for our mission in Iraq," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.
The Purple Finger Fetish goes prime-time. But given their election obsession, I wonder if Bush will speak Sunday about the other elections that took place this week in the Arab world:
JERUSALEM, Dec. 16 - The Islamic militant group Hamas won sweeping victories Thursday in local elections in some of the West Bank's largest cities, according to preliminary results released today. The voting, which comes six weeks ahead of crucial parliamentary elections, was a considerable blow to the Fatah faction, which has dominated the Palestinian Authority but has fractured in the year since the death of Yasir Arafat.
Hamas swept Nablus, a former Fatah stronghold, with 73 percent of the vote and 13 of the 15 seats, and won decisively in Al Bireh, next door to Ramallah. Hamas won control of the Jenin city council by one seat, while Fatah apparently kept control of Ramallah, which is where most Palestinian Authority ministries are based, including the headquarters of Mr. Arafat's successor as Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. But even in Ramallah, Hamas won about 30 percent of the votes.
...
"Hamas's numbers in Nablus are amazing," he said in an interview. "They show significant progress for Hamas in a city that was a headquarters for Fatah. Fatah's divisions in the legislative elections could lead Hamas to power."
Issam Abu Baker, Fatah's leader in Nablus, told The Associated Press: "We didn't think for a moment that Hamas would win so many votes. The earth shook under our feet, and this will have an effect on the Parliament."
There will be Parliamentary elections in the West Bank and Gaza on Jan. 25th.
The supporters of the Iraq war always talk about elections (a) as if they are by themselves a sufficient condition for a democracy (forgetting about little things like rule of law, security, etc.), and, relatedly, (b) as if no Arab or Muslim country has ever held elections before. Both are wrong.
The Purple Finger Fetish obviously does not extend to countries where the bad guys get elected. Ironically, Iraq may soon be seen as one of those countries too.