"We heard many bombs this morning but we didn't care."

As I noted here, NBC newsman Brian Williams, reporting from Baghdad, heard booms from his hotel and concluded that there must be "general unease." Contrast this statement from a Zeina, a 60-year-old female election candidate in Baghdad, writing for the BBC's Iraq election log:

Everyone is so excited. We heard many bombs this morning but we didn't care because we have to use our right to vote. So many people were afraid to go this morning, but now it seems in the afternoon that more people have voted.

I am so happy, so glad. Later this afternoon we will meet up with our friends for a celebration.

What profound admiration so many of us in America feel for the brave people of Iraq! They remind us of the beauty of the liberties we take for granted and the courage that we are so rarely called upon to show.