Morning notables

Here are a couple of notable columns this morning:

First, Michael Novak says the press will likely be surprised at the turnout and results in the Iraqi election next week. The Monk not only agrees, he expects a very successful election whose success and peacefulness will be toned down by the media. Remember, the Afghani election of Hamid Karzai last fall did not gain front-page traction on either the NY Times or the WaPo -- a shameful display by both of those newspapers.

And it's the probable success of those elections that have the Democrats' collective undergarments in a wad, says John Podhoretz. Why? The left is more concerned that Bush will succeed than anything else.

Next, Jonah Goldberg tells the leftists to smarten up: if you don't think the US efforts in Iraq are about encouraging freedom and defeating tyranny, listen to the enemy's own proclamations.

Closer to home, Thor Halvorssen, the former head of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (The FIRE, see its website for its stance on academic freedom and the work it has done; The Monk is a contributor), discusses Hugo Chavez's coddling of terrorists. Halvorssen was born in Venezuela (his mother is Venezuelan). His mother was wounded in August 2004 when Chavez's thugs opened fire, with live rounds, on protestors who rallied against Chavez's fraudulent "victory" in his recall "election".

And last, but not least, the INS is incompetent. You knew that, but Michelle Malkin has details of the INS's latest idiocy: approving a green card for an immigrant who died in the 9-11-01 attacks.