It’s amazing how much better off the world is just knowing that Democrats have won control of Congress, isn’t it? They haven’t even taken control yet, and in 3 days, look how the prospects in Afghanistan have made an earth-shattering reversal.

Afghanistan on November 6, 2006 - the day before the election:

Poverty, anger with government fueling Taliban support in Afghanistan

…Many in Kandahar say their confidence in the government is falling, and some say that is helping fuel support for the Taliban….

Afghanistan on November 9, 2006 - two days after the election

Poll: Afghans express confidence in country’s direction, security

Despite a raging pro-Taliban insurgency, the people of Afghanistan say they are optimistic about the future, satisfied with their young democracy and rank security low on their list of everyday concerns, according to a survey out today.

Gosh, I bet this means we can expect to hear news of how great our economy is now, or how well the war in Iraq is going…. all thanks to the Democrat victory!

UPDATE:
Mark’s on the same wavelength and points out something I missed in the USAToday article from today:

Now, at any time before the election when we were getting a series of stories about how the Taliban was resurgent, did any of them mention that they were resurgent only in areas containing less than 3% of the Afghan population?

Oddly enough, it seems that tidbit did slip past them a few days ago…

1. If more of the positive aspects of our activity in Iraq had been reported more frequently, would that have an effect on the people’s views on the war?

   If the people’s views on the war were more positive, would that have had an effect on the actions of the terrorists?

   Comment by SouthernRoots — 12:49 pm
   

2. Notice Anything Different About The News Lately?

   You know, I kind of predicted this the other day, and people scoffed at the notion, but I’ve noticed that now that the Democrats have won Congress, we’re not seeing much in the news (either on the networks, cable news, or the web) about casualties, i…

   Trackback by Iowa Voice — 1:47 pm
   

3. The Myth of Media Bias

   What a difference a day makes. Texas Rainmaker notes these two headlines. Before Elections: Poverty, anger with government fueling Taliban support in Afghanistan After Elections: Poll: Afghans express confidence in country’s direction, security Then th…

   Trackback by The Jawa Report — 3:26 pm
   

4. Are you surprised that much of the world feels safer now that Bush will have to answer for his actions (at least a bit)? Or are you just surprised that it’s being reported in the US? Because I can assure you that everyone in Europe is breathing a sigh of relief.

   But no fear, there are others that mourn the passing of Bush’s license to kill. Why, of course our friends, the Iraqi Sunnis:
   http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061108/pl_afp/usvoteiraq_061108181912

   Comment by endorendil — 4:56 am
   

5. No, I am not surprised by the fact that the same set of facts that existed a day before the election is now classified as 180 degrees different the day after. The world may claim to feel safer, but if the facts haven’t changed, only the reaction thereto, then the problem wasn’t Bush and his policies, but rather those reacting to him.

   Comment by Texas Rainmaker — 5:13 am
   

6. Ah, yes. The problem isn’t that American soldiers are in Iraq, it’s that Iraqis don’t like having them there. The problem isn’t that the US never attempted to control Afghanistan, it’s that the Taliban didn’t just go away. The problem isn’t that the US just isolated North Korea, it’s that North Korea used that isolation to do whatever it wanted. It’s all just perception, is it?

   I haven’t seen any stories belittling the problems in Afghanistand or Iraq, after the election. The link you gave to Mark’s site didn’t work for me (”Cannot find server”).

   The Afghan story you point to refers to a poll released on November 9, so of course the MSM could not have reported on it before. The institution that released the poll is the Asia Foundation. Kindly direct your suspicion at them. I couldn’t see any links to the DNC, but I’m sure you can find them. Since they work for peace and prosperity, there’s no doubt that they must be fronts for the Democrats, Right?

   BTW, I find it encouraging that you have come to accept the sampling method that The Lancet has used to study civilian casualties in Iraq. The Asia Foundation uses the same techniques, even to the point of moving around clusters to keep the interviewers out of the worst fighting, which had to be done in 5 provinces.

   If Mark is claiming that the insurgency is limited to 3% of the population based on the Asia Foundation report, it’s clearly wrong. They didn’t go into two provinces since they’re extremely dangerous (essentially under Taliban control), but they had to move clusters in 5 other provinces because of the fighting. The two provinces that weren’t polled at all are Uruzghan (1.1% of population) and Zabul (1.2% of population). The provinces where the fighting messed up the cluster points are Helmand, Ghazni, Kapisa, Kandahar and Logar. These provices (used to) contain about 20% of the Afghan population. And just because the other provinces were safe enough to do the cluster analysis unmodified doesn’t mean there is no fighting.

   Comment by endorendil — 9:45 am
   

7. endo,
   I haven’t come to accept anything relating to polls, other than one can make them say what one wants. (Which actually ties in with my original post)

   Again, you go way off on a tangent to prove a point that’s irrelevant to the discussion. The point of the post is that in 3 days, the story about Afghanistan in the MSM is 180 degrees different and the only intervening event is the election in which Democrats gained control of Congress.

   Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to see MSM finally acknowledging the world isn’t in as horrible shape as they’ve been telling us for the last 6 years. Of course, it’s disappointing, yet blindingly obvious, that they’re now going to attribute all the good things to the Democrat victory.

   Comment by Texas Rainmaker — 10:08 am
   

8. […] I mean, it is VERY amusing (sad, and pathetic, too, but also vastly funny) to see the MSM (the “mediating intelligences”) suddenly proclaim the new gains in the stock market as fantastic news! (Stocks climb on Dem wins! When they reached 12,000 under Bush and a GOP congress, it was doom, doom, doom!). In three days Afghanistan went from a quagmire to a place of hope oh, and look! Now that the Dems are incontrol, we’re finally allowed to read about the tremendous advances being made in ADULT stem cell research! […]

   Pingback by The Anchoress » Weirdest election fall-out so far… — 1:38 pm
   

9. […] House Shrieker Lugosi hasn’t even moved into her new office yet, and already the Afghan quagmire has turned into a roaring success, with smiles and optimism among the natives as far as the eye can see. […]

   Pingback by Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler » Blog Archive » Is There Anything Those Wondrous Democrats CAN’T Accomplish? — 8:18 pm
   

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