Iraqi elections should teach a lesson

By Staff
Newspapers often get preachy and sanctimonious about Americans turning out to vote. We urge you to do so and lament when you inevitably don't.
That's possibly because newspapers particularly understand the precious bedrock of freedom in our society provided by the Bill of Rights and the process of democracy. We practice freedom of the press every day, and rejoice because we can do so.
But the recent elections in Iraq should speak louder than any editorial ever written.
We won't re-iterate the details; you've heard all about it by now, we're sure.
But 70 percent or more of the Iraqi people turned out to vote Sunday, in the face of threats for their very lives. Insurgents threatened to kill those who participated in the election to choose a 275-seat assembly. Yet countless thousands of Iraqis turned out to vote anyway.
Those who couldn't walk were pushed in carts by relatives to the polls, and some were physically carried.
See, those folks had not been able to vote freely in more than 50 years. In America, we've done so since our country was founded, and 70 percent of our folks can't bring themselves to find their way to the polls on election day.
How precious is that freedom? So precious that Iraqis risked being killed to exercise it. If you can't get inspired by that, nothing we can write will do so.
Jay Leno, popular host of the "Tonight Show," made some jokes Monday and Tuesday about the comparisons between Iraqi and American voting. We love the point he was trying to get across, but it's no laughing matter.
We've done our best in the months since our invasion of Iraq to teach the Iraqis some things - how to have elections, how to be policemen and soldiers, etc. - but in this case the Iraqis are the teachers.
God help us to learn from them and not take for granted the precious right to vote. Remember the sight of the tear-stained faces of those Iraqi voters the next time one of our elections roll around.