Smiles not Snarls

Freedom is on the March.

Charles votes for his Lebanese Protester of the Day.

Cliff May at NRO's The Corner displays photos of Christian and Muslim women marching together as well as photos of people just everywhere.

Yes, Freedom requires responsibility, but isn't it great to see smiles in the Middle East rather than snarls?

We live in interesting times, and one thing we do know: W will support nascent democracies (and republics) around the world. The clarity of his vision has focused many an autocrat's and terrorist's (even those we sometimes forget are terrorists) mind.

They know the Man from Midland isn't driven by a desire to be loved or to receive a Nobel Prize, but to do what is Right.

Isn't is just absolutely wonderful to see people around the world tasting or wanting to taste freedom?

Not to be Pollyanna, New Sisyphus notes:

Again, a free Lebanon is not likely to be an ally of the United States or even agree with us on many things. That is not the point. Neither does free Sweden nor free France. The point is that the new space the President's policy is opening up in the Middle East will allow other interests other than that of Islamic Fascism a real voice in Middle Eastern politics and that real voice will moderate and modernize those nations in steps.

Chrenkoff runs the numbers.

Now, we have an opposition, anti-Syrian, anti-Government rally, with anywhere between 800,000 and 1.3 million people in the streets.

Lebanon's total population is 3.7 million.

To get your head around the magnitude of these events, think the United States. Think the Presidential campaign 2004. Think a Kerry rally, somewhere outside Boston, attracting somewhere between 40 and 80 million people. Then think a Bush rally, on the outsikirts of Dallas, with a field crowded with between 63 and 103 million Americans.

Wow.