HERE'S A FINGER IN YOUR EYE. Day By Day:

Let's start the post roundup with The Mesopotamian.

I bow in respect and awe to the men and women of our people who, armed only with faith and hope are going to the polls under the very real threats of being blown to pieces. These are the real braves; not the miserable creatures of hate who are attacking one of the noblest things that has ever happened to us. Have you ever seen anything like this? Iraq will be O.K. with so many brave people, it will certainly O.K.; I can say no more just now; I am just filled with pride and moved beyond words. People are turning up not only under the present threat to polling stations but also under future threats to themselves and their families; yet they are coming, and keep coming. Behold the Iraqi people; now you know their true metal. We shall never forget the meanness of these bas…s. After this is over there will be no let up, they must be wiped out. It is our duty and the duty of every decent human to make sure this vermin is no more and that no more innocent decent people are victimized.

My condolences to the Great American people for the tragic recent losses of soldiers. The blood of Iraqis and Americans is being shed on the soil of Mesopotamia; a baptism with blood. A baptism of a lasting friendship and alliance, for many years to come, through thick and thin, we shall never forget the brave soldiers fallen while defending our freedom and future.

Hammorabi has observations

One woman was crying because she can not reach the requested polling station to vote!

In many parts the police helped citizens to take them with their cars to the polling stations!

As we expected the enemies of God and freedom send their mentally retarded cockroaches in some suicidal attacks.

On the top of our privileged today are those who were killed in their way for voting. Their names should be perpetuated for ever! Their names should be written in Gold in Al-Fordos Square in Baghdad!

as well as a comment on totalitarian "elections"

No more 99.99 % in Iraq!

This is the figure of the Arabs' dictators except Saddam!

He used to get 100%!

Surprisingly those who voted for the master of the mass graves are abstaining now!

There's an encouraging anecdote at Iraq The Model (hat tip: Winds of Change).

The first thing we saw this morning on our way to the voting center was a convoy of the Iraqi army vehicles patrolling the street, the soldiers were cheering the people marching towards their voting centers then one of the soldiers chanted "vote for Allawi" less than a hundred meters, the convoy stopped and the captain in charge yelled at the soldier who did that and said:

"You're a member of the military institution and you have absolutely no right to support any political entity or interfere with the people's choice. This is Iraq's army, not Allawi's".

This was a good sign indeed and the young officer's statement was met by applause from the people on the street.

The streets were completely empty except for the Iraqi and the coalition forces ' patrols, and of course kids seizing the chance to play soccer! We had all kinds of feelings in our minds while we were on our way to the ballot box except one feeling that never came to us, that was fear.

We could smell pride in the atmosphere this morning; everyone we saw was holding up his blue tipped finger with broad smiles on the faces while walking out of the center.

There are too many roundups for me to catalog all of them. Andrew Sullivan, Instapundit, and PoliBlog, natch. Dan Drezner has a relatively recently opened thread. No Oil for Pacifists has been busy. A Constrained Vision suggests several sources.

Villainous Company presents an organization chart for the three branches of the new Iraqi government. Keep in mind, this election is to set up a constitutional convention, to further refine that organization chart. The coalition and the interim government are attempting to collapse into two or three years a number of structural changes that took the thirteen colonies six years to work out after Independence, and another 75 years to further refine.

There are, of course, naysayers. Mitch at Shot in the Dark has identified some of them, as well as offering a proper response to the worst among those.

News flash, Ollie; this is the right thing. The Iraqis are getting a fairer election, it seems, than the people of Milwaukee, and value the opportunity, turning out in amazing numbers, more than most Americans

Tapped have apparently gone skiing in Vermont for the weekend.