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Monday, December 27, 2004Yushchenko Declares VictoryAnd it looks like this time, the declaration is intended to highlight what the ballots reveal, not hide it. This is a bad day for Putin, of course, and a bad day all those who pooh-poohed Yushchenko as an American puppet with declarations to the effect that such an election was good enough to affirm Castro's rule, it ought to be good enough to affirm a pro-Soviet authoritarians. The real focus, though, should be on who this is a good day for. It is a good day for those who view the will of the people as paramount and voting a process for determining it, not a good in its own right. It's a great day for those who want to see Eastern Europe become more than a satellite of either the EU or Russia (both of which had major actors who blew major calls). And it's a fantastic day for Ukrainians, even those whose candidate lost, in that it is finally assured, at least for a moment, that the power of governance is less a thing to be wielded over them than a thing they, themselves, wield. Bravo to those who stood with the Ukrainian people in calling for real elections. And let us offer congratulations and sympathy to Mr. Yushchenko, who has won a hard fought victory and for his reward faces the still harder work of justifying his followers' faith in him while conciliating those who so opposed him. A big challenge awaits, one that he alone can't meet. But with the aid of his countryman, who knows? The Bay Area is even slowly accepting Bush's win, so anything's possible. 
posted by gbarto at 4:58 PM |
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