Somos Madrideños

While I was devastated to hear of the disaster that befell Madrid last week, I am encouraged by the response of the Spanish electorate yesterday.

The upset pulled off by the Socialist Party over the previously favored Popular Party of outgoing PM José María Aznar appears to have been motivated in large part by the government's response to terrorism, both at home and abroad.

One year ago this week, Aznar entered Spain into the "coalition of the willing," despite the overwhelming -- we're talking 90 percent -- popular sentiment against the war in Iraq.

Last week, in the aftermath of the train bombings that killed approximately 200 people and injured more than 1,000 others, the government immediately alleged that the ETA, a Basque separatist group, bore responsibility for the attacks. This despite the fact that the bombings reflected neither the methods nor the strategies usually employed by the ETA, and that it would've taken a dramatic and unexpected shift in ETA policy to have prompted such an attack.

Spanish voters recognized this for what it was: bullshit. Specifically, political bullshit. And they did the only sensible thing by throwing the bastards out of office. This seems all the more justified in light of a recently disclosed tape, allegedly from al-Qaeda, claiming responsibility as punishment for Spain's role in the Iraq war. And especially when you consider that most Spaniards feel their government hasn't been completely forthright with the truth, but has instead sought to take advantage of the situation.

It gives me hope to see a society rejecting the deliberate manipulation of human tragedy for transparently political gain. I can only hope that America sees past the political smokescreens and machinations of the current administration and likewise turns the bastards out on the street come November.