Ukraine Election Reverberates Throughout the World
By Christopher G. Adamo
If the defeat of John Kerry this past November wasn’t sufficient to convince leftists that their era of dominance is over, surely the hard fought victory of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko ought to do so. Challenging an incumbent who leaned left (and ultimately towards Moscow), many parallels exist between Yushchenko’s victory in Eastern Europe and America’s affirmation of its traditional values this past November.
In this country, the attempted suppression of grassroots participation, through such seditious means as campaign finance “reform” legislation, ultimately proved ineffectual, and in some cases, actually backfired on the Democrat Party/liberal media complex. The rise to prominence of 527 organizations, by which such venomous entities as “Moveon.org” asserted themselves, ended as an exercise in futility for liberals.
Despite having spent enormous sums of money to slander and discredit the President, the comparatively small investments of rival organizations such as “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” proved to be far more effective. Such was the case for the simple reason that the Swift Vets were indeed armed with a piercing truth against which the Kerry campaign, and liberalism in general, was entirely defenseless.
In fact, it has only been through the systematic suppression of truth that the left has ever gained political traction, either in America or anywhere throughout the civilized world. As alternative information sources become more readily available to the public, the facade of liberalism crumbles.
A prime example is “Memogate” in which multi-billion dollar media leviathan CBS attempted to pawn off fraudulent “military records,” ostensibly discrediting President Bush. Ultimately the ploy proved to be a major humiliation for the left, and for CBS in particular.
Where once such a ruse would have been carried out with impunity, this time its bogus nature was quickly identified and made public. Now, those who engage in such activity are forced to go on defense and backtrack from their deceit.
The only means by which liberals could ever hope to resume a dominant role in American politics would be to honestly promote their ideas in a manner that might persuade the population at large. But big government socialism and its corollary, societal decay, simply won’t resonate with an America that cherishes its traditional heritage of liberty, individuality, and morality.
Recent attempts by the left to assume the moral “high ground” in response to the devastation in the Indian Ocean, while generating much anger and resentment, are neither persuading the American people of liberalism’s inherent superiority nor convincing them of the righteous benevolence of liberalism’s supreme shrine, the United Nations.
Rather than elevating such organizations, increased publicity is resulting in an increased understanding of their inept bungling of major international crises, and in some cases, outright corruption among their leadership. Once again, close examination by an informed public quickly becomes counterproductive to the liberal agenda.
Over in Ukraine, intense public scrutiny of government corruption has resulted in a dramatic shift in how that country intends to govern itself. Attempts by the entrenched elite to strong-arm the recent election and dictate its results have completely broken down, and the will of the people now prevails. In this sense, the unfolding of events during Ukraine’s recent election somewhat mirrors events in this country, though with an admittedly Russian flavor.
Not content to merely destroy the reputation of pro-western candidate Viktor Yushchenko, his political enemies succeeded in poisoning him with dioxin during the campaign season. Fortunately, Yushchenko survived, though the ordeal left him severely disfigured. But rather than undermining him, the dastardly deed actually increased his public standing.
On Election Day, rampant vote fraud, vastly eclipsing anything in this country, yielded an initial “victory” for incumbent candidate Viktor Yanukovich. Yet despite biased news reporting and suppression of the facts, the public quickly became aware of the degree to which the democratic process had been thwarted.
Major protests ensued, eventually resulting in a call for new elections by Ukraine’s highest court. Finally, a legitimate election was conducted in which Yushchenko garnered 52 percent of the vote to Yanukovich’s 44 percent, with the remaining 4 percent no doubt split between Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan.
Thus in Ukraine, as in America, efforts by corrupt political machines and a complicit media to fix elections failed, and those voices who spoke for the people were ultimately heard. The rules have changed. The political left, which long maintained its iron-fisted dominance through fraud and intimidation, is in retreat in Eastern Europe as it is in America.
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