The Poor Man: Democracy on the march!

Dominos falling in Lebanon:

BINT JBEIL, Lebanon - Hezbollah and its Shiite allies claimed victory in southern Lebanon in Sunday’s second stage of national elections, a vote the militant group hopes will prove its strength and send a message of defiance to the United States. […]

“The people’s participation in the elections is a vote for the resistance and its weapons,” said Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah candidate allied with Amal.

Hezbollah hopes strong voter support will give it greater political influence to confront international pressure to disarm now that its Syrian backers have withdrawn from the country.

“All the south came out today to send a clear message to the Americans that they embrace the resistance (Hezbollah’s) weapons and that they are independent in their decision and they are not subservient to international resolutions,” Sheik Nabil Kaouk, Hezbollah’s commander in southern Lebanon, told reporters shortly after voting began in Sunday’s second phase of four-stage parliamentary elections.

Well, that sounds lovely. Hezbollah, the Party of God, appears to have some surface similarities to God’s Official Party here in the US - militaristic, anti-UN, anti-liberal, pro-torture, and fiercely sectarian, aided by their own dedicated propaganda channels, but with a compassionate side exemplified by their popular faith-based social programs. (And, as with the GOP, there are many who think that Hezbollah is a front group for Iranian interests.)