Ali and Mohammed Fadhil, two of the three brothers who co-author one of my favorite Iraqi weblogs are translating their inspiration and vision into action by running for the Iraqi National Assembly. Joining the Iraqi Pro-Democracy Party, Ali and Mohammed each offer a press statement. Says Ali:

We believe that we represent an important segment of the Iraqi people that was never organized before under any category as a result of the oppression of the past regime. Now this segment has come to see the necessity to contribute to the building of a new Iraq in a way that is entirely different from the old ways that are still dominant in the Middle East and that are governed by religious fanaticism and pan-Arab nationalism.

We see that remaining silent is not an option in our battle towards democracy and freedom and that everyone who seeks a better future should take part in this battle.

Easily the best news of the day — and the Fadhil brothers are among many eager to serve Iraq's democratic future. How will the left, from politicians to intellectuals to professional protesters, react? Probably as if nothing like this — young men in foreign lands risking their lives by standing up for the common good, a real protest generation — is even happening. Presidential candidate John Kerry has yet to devote two minutes of a speech to the gains made by Iraqis and Afghans in spite of so many obstacles. His supporters are too busy denouncing American use of force to liberate millions and keep them safe through the permanent change of polity. It's events like these that expose leftism for a cynical, hopeless half-religion, an exercise in denial: praying to generic idols of "peace" and "diplomacy" with absolutely no understanding of how to actually make them reality, denying any relationship of their realization to democratic assertion or the individual.

If President Bush wanted to make a statement in this election season few would forget, the Republican Party would fly the three Fadhil brothers in for stage-time at the National Convention. Then again, Ali and Mohammed may come to the United States soon enough, as representatives of a democratic Iraq. Godspeed, gentlemen.

DESPOTAPHILIA: Craig Brett reminds us that the left's intersection with authoritarianism is not just a hypothesis.