All over but the counting...and WE'LL do the counting.

It's a tough day for snark, what with all the post-election triumphalism. I'm happy to see Eric is in the same mood. Makes for blog harmony. The Rude Pundit, as usual, has his own unique take.

But, c'mon, everyone. We should be acting like the proud parents of a baby, should we not? A severely disabled baby? We're just so thrilled to have a child, but, Christ, what hardship and heartache lie ahead. But it was worth it, right? Isn't that what we need to keep telling ourselves over and over, as more and more loss happens, that it was just fucking worth it?

I'd also like to give an honorable mention to Brian Williams, who expressed some rare skepticism yesterday on Meet the Press.

Ayad Allawi obviously expressing great confidence that this is the first day of a new era here in Iraq. But we should back up to the overall feeling here and that, I think, most here would agree is a kind of general unease. Atmospherically, we have heard as many booms and concussions over the past hour as we have combined really over the past few days. A while back, the threat of pedestrian suicide bombers had us confined to quarters, and there has been violence. As of air time this morning, 14 attacks in the easiest place, most dependable place for statistic gathering, and that is here in Baghdad, 14 bombing attacks, 36 people dead so far.

But, Tim, like the election numbers, those will change. And probably the best way to approach all of the numbers we will be hearing today, you hear turnout at 72 percent in one precinct, 50 in another, 4 percent in another, is with the same caution we exercise in the States with those now famous first-wave exit polls and other early information. This is probably, it's safe to say at this hour, a fairly unquantifiable election so far.

Otherwise, the general message from your liberal medai appears to be, "Isn't * a genius?"

Oh, yeah. I'll stick with Kerry. Also from Meet the Press:

Secondly, it is significant that there is a vote in Iraq. But no one in the United States or in the world-- and I'm confident of what the world response will be. No one in the United States should try to overhype this election. This election is a sort of demarcation point, and what really counts now is the effort to have a legitimate political reconciliation, and it's going to take a massive diplomatic effort and a much more significant outreach to the international community than this administration has been willing to engage in. Absent that, we will not be successful in Iraq.

Judging from the headlines his appearance generated in winger outlets, we are hereby on notice that this point of view, which I think of as realistic, puts us in the category of naysayer, grinch, sourpuss, and [WARNING!! NIXON-ERA CLICHE INCOMING] Nattering Nabob of Negativism. Hey, I'm okay with that. If he can handle it, I can too.