This Irony isn't Tasty

[shadesofmauve]

I hope that everyone is spending some time today to think about the Iraqui vote, and to recognise that this is an important day, no matter what it turns out to mean. I admit that I picture myself 50 years down the road, speaking to a high school history class, and hearing them say "Why did the American people let this go on?" To all future high school students, my appologies. I can honestly say that a large part of the American people were uninformed, not because information was hidden, but because they weren't paying attention. The current mess stinks of all the tricks the US played in South America. No, we don't learn from history - and if we do, well, we can't seem to do anything about it.

I'm not anti-democracy, of course - I'm anti a course of action which seems likly to bring about a choice between civil war and long US occupation. 6 candidates have already been assasinated. Many candidates were secret up until a few days before the election, to avoid that. The bulk of the campaigning has been on TV - and when Iraquis actually have a TV, the chances of them having the electricity to run it at any given point are small at best.

No, I'm not against democracy - I'm true blue, free for all, through and through. But I wonder if the only way to really have a viable democracy is to grow into it for yourself. Is the culture of the mid-east really so different that even given peaceful conditions an election could be honest? I have heard it said that even to make plans for the far future - next year, perhaps - is to take the decision from Allah and therefore an irreligious action. It makes one wonder.

[EDIT] We should all be impressed, amazed, and honoring of the Iraquis who voted despite the constant threat of violence. I still don't have any faith for the future of it, and I dislike that Bush considers it more 'political capital' and is pretty open about it being a Euro-American PR move, but for the people themselves - well, high voter turn out under threat is just damn impressive. [/EDIT]

Now, that wasn't the irony. I'd love to have a long chat about civic principles and ideas and feasability of jeffersonian democracy, but what really caught my attention today was this:

Under Pressure, Qatar may sell Al-Jazeera Station

Qatar is a US ally. Al-Jazeera is a huge arab news station that has been heavily critized by the Bush administration for being inflammatory and anti-US. Under signifigant pressure, Qatar is considering auctioning off the station to private parties. The US isn't too happy about that, either. Of course as the old-style-patriot I am, freedom of speech is a great concern. I don't want to see the government quashing the media at home or abroad. Yet when Bush is telling others to stop rabble rousing, I'm strongly reminded of a name-calling match between pots and kettles.

The specific, beautiful sentence that caught my says that many members of the Bush administration have "complained heatedly to Qatari leaders that Al Jazeera's broadcasts have been inflammatory, misleading and occasionally false, especially on Iraq."

A little substitution, and we can imagine that many members of the American public have "complained heatedly to American leaders that Fox's broadcasts have been inflammatory, misleading, and occasionally false, especialliy on Iraq."

Yes - savor it.



Maybe we're not so different as we think.

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