Seth Leibsohn, who, when he isn't busy as a Claremont Institute fellow, produces William J. Bennett's popular radio show, "Morning in America," tells The Beltway Beat that to the best of his knowledge it all began with a 10-year-old girl from Montana.

Shelby Dangerfield painted her right index finger purple in January and promoted the idea to her friends in Billings - "in solidarity with the people of Iraq who braved much worse than the Montana winter to have their fingers painted purple as they voted in their first free elections," Leibsohn explains.

Recently, a caller to Bennett's radio show suggested that as many Americans as possible paint their right index fingers purple this week to show support for Iraqis as they return to the polls for crucial parliamentary elections.

The radio host, who was education secretary under President Reagan, not only ran with the idea, he posted it on National Review's blog. From there, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, and Americans for Victory Over Terrorism (a project Bennett heads for Claremont), all jumped on board and launched purplefingerforfreedom.org - as Bennett paraphrased William Shakespeare, to give the "whole idea a habitation and a name."

"Bennett wrote an open letter to store owners and managers nationwide asking them to put purple ink at their checkout counters for their customers, and National Review Online picked that letter up and published it - as did many in the blogosphere," Leibsohn said Monday. Soon, the Fox News Channel endorsed the purple-finger campaign.

"A Miami artist who listens to Bennett's show sent her painting of Arab women voting with their purple fingers to the site, as did a fireman and his child from Jacksonville, and so many other Americans.

"While we can't say how many Americans will be painting their fingers purple this week, we can say that a child, the Internet and radio can still be the most powerful forces in the culture, perhaps even in politics," says Leibsohn, adding the Washington Times to the mix Monday.

WILD WEST 2005

We're not kin, but thanks to the many readers who forwarded to this columnist a recent London Sunday Telegraph piece about Roger McCaslin and the AK-47 he carries for protection.

McCaslin isn't fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan. Rather, he's fighting for survival deep in the Sonoran desert of southern Arizona, where he owns a silver mine. His enemy: drug runners on the Mexican frontier.

Telegraph reporter Philip Sherwell traveled across the pond to visit McCaslin and his small mine, which sits on a knoll of red earth and scrub near the Mexican border.

"As he careered along the rock-strewn gully towards his silver mine," he writes, "McCaslin first checked his bowie knife, then his pistol, and finally his Kalashnikov. From the road, he had already noticed that something was wrong."

Observed the miner: "The gate's broken and the door on the trailer's open. They've been here, I know it. I just hope they've moved on - for their sake."

"Welcome to the Wild West 2005," says Sherwell, "where modern-day cowboys still guard their land from interlopers - but using AK-47s and four-wheel drives instead of Winchester rifles and horses."

The mine, he points out, sits amid a network of trails used by heavily armed Mexican trafficking gangs to smuggle people and drugs into the United States.

"Notoriously porous, the border has reached new levels of lawlessness this year as smugglers, known as 'coyotes,' have become increasingly brazen, willing to fire on anyone - from border patrols to the likes of McCaslin - who gets in their way," he writes.

McCaslin's regular job is as a wrangler at a nearby Arizona dude ranch, where visitors saddle up for rides through the desert. Imagine the tourists surprise when the 50-year-old cowboy recounts several gunfights he's had with the "coyotes", including one occasion when he and his business partner came under fire at dusk as they barbecued steaks.

"They started the war when they started shooting at us," said McCaslin. "One time, my partner definitely hit one of them. The guy got away, but I doubt he got far. His friends . . . probably just left him out there somewhere."

PASS THE BONES

Those were the Washington Redskins cheerleaders - and their dogs - co-hosting a Sunday-night event with AnimalAttraction.com, an online dating site for pet lovers, at Tommy Joe's in Bethesda.

The cheerleaders and their pooches mixed and mingled with other pet lovers, helping raise money for the Washington Animal Rescue League. The dating site was founded by Dan Cohen, former vice president of sales and ticket operations for the Washington Redskins, who later started a sports and entertainment consulting firm.

The unofficial theme of the night: "Meet guys who love dogs, not guys who are dogs."

TUNE IN

The world will be able to see for itself on Jan. 31 whether this week's pivotal parliamentary elections in Iraq are a success.

That's the day President Bush delivers his annual State of the Union on Capitol Hill, and "it is my fondest hope that . . . maybe in this chamber - in a seat in this chamber - might be a legislative leader or two of the newly elected Iraqi Parliament," says Rep. Mike Pence, Indiana Republican.

Although actual numbers fluctuate, an amazing 7,000 candidates from no fewer than 325 political parties or organizations are seeking office in Iraq. (And to think that here in the United States, especially in Florida, election officials have a tough time counting the votes for only a handful of politicians.) Continued...