Risking Your Life to Run For Office Is "Heartwarming" on FOX News
Reported by Ellen - January 16, 2005
The first guest on last night's After Hours with Cal Thomas was Republican Congresswoman Kay Granger, just back from a trip to Iraq with, surprise, surprise (not, not) good news about the upcoming election. Peace and stability? No. More electricity and gasoline? No. Increased voter access? No. The good news is that women are willing to risk their lives to run for office and participate in their democracy.
Calling these women, "intelligent, articulate and accomplished," Granger touted the fact that while women make up only 15% of the US Congress, "every third name" on the ballot in Iraq is a woman's. She called their stories "heartwarming" despite the fact that their lives are in danger and some have had family members killed as the result of their candidacies. The women are committed to being elected and writing the constitution, Granger said.
While I would think the idea of an election so dangerous that people are afraid to campaign would be cause for consternation and sympathy, this point was avoided entirely by both Granger and Thomas. Calling the election "not perfect" (one of the great understatements of the invasion, in my opinion), Granger said it is a "very important step" toward writing the Constitution, then ratifying it and then holding another election. She also insisted that the women understand the danger and don't want to delay the election.
Comment: On FOX News, it seems that reinforcing Bush's lofty notions of "democratizing" and "liberating" Iraq is more important than the tragedy of lost lives as the result of the failure to stabilize the country.
