<p>Where was it? Sorry, for the ignorance. I was just curious.</p>
<p>Is that what he said? It was very confused, he barely got the sentences out with a straight face and any coherency.</p>
<p>I am so proud of him…</p>
<p>Do you know of Palestine? Do you know of Hamas? BUSH learned of both today…probably during his tutoring session with Rice.</p>
<p>Bush now says “It was an interesting day.”;)</p>
<p><a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060126/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_palestinians_2;_ylt=As_V8UYAYJbj3l4OzjCSN60UvioA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl[/url]”>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060126/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_palestinians_2;_ylt=As_V8UYAYJbj3l4OzjCSN60UvioA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl</a></p>
<p>But were his lips moving when he said those words??</p>
<p>Clearly “Democracy” means more than free elections, huh?</p>
<p>Civil rights, free press, separation of church and state…Democracy in the Middle East might look a little tougher to the Bushies now.</p>
<p>Really, we get busy figuring out how to use a whole lot less oil.</p>
<p>Weenie, that encapsulates so much of the Bush administration approach to everything: a veneer-thick understanding of the most superficial surface elements. They scorn expertise, they scorn “book learning,” they scorn anything at odds with their preconceptions. </p>
<p>InterestedDad: we could have smuggled in Diebold voting machines…</p>
<p>and the batteries to power them…hehehe I just love a good discussion.</p>
<p>Vast leftist echo chamber here. A handful of lost souls bemoaning the fact they are so worldly, knowledgeable, and sophisticated their candidates can never win elections outside of Massachustts, San Francisco and Seattle :-)</p>
<p>Nobody mistakes one election one time for democracy except you folks when a commie is elected. When there is a peaceful electoral change of government and when that process is internalized by the polity thenyou have democracy. Nobody thinks it is easy. Nobody thinks it can be accomplished in a day. And nobody but those of you looking for the dictatorship of the proletariat (or Martin Sheen) think it is not worth blood and treasure to establish in the middle east. The alternative is dictatorship, kleptocracy, and terrorism.</p>
<p>PS - watch out or some Christian fundamentalist will sneak up and baptize you while you are sleeping.</p>
<p>We didn’t say anything against democracy or the value of it. We are just having fun and enjoying the vast expressive abilities of Mr. Bush and his faulty execution of a plan…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yeah, that would have worked. But, the CIA’s intel about the election date would have been stale and the machines would have arrived just after the voters left. Yet another in a long string of “we just missed him” ops.</p>
<p>Don’t forget that treacherous road from the airport…the one we cannot secure. Say about those roving phone banks and ATMs…</p>
<p>“When there is a peaceful electoral change of government and when that process is internalized by the polity thenyou have democracy.”</p>
<p>You’ve pretty much described the radical change in government in Iran during the last election.</p>
<p>well look at it this way.</p>
<ol>
<li> by taking power, Hamas should have more ability to stop the suicide bombings</li>
<li> if Hamas keeps with the view that Israel shouldn’t exist and continues suicide, that will be Palestinians attacking Israel with approval of their government, which will give Israel the right (as seen internationally) to respond forcefully and heavily.</li>
</ol>
<p>remember, the US does not negociate with terrorists. And remember, the US gives huge amounts of aid to the palestinian people every year… this will be interesting.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Like bombs and planes and money huh? I think you have Palestine confused with Israel…</p>
<p>So what? Israel can’t occupy the Palestinians…they already realized that that policy is bankrupt, hence The Wall. And they can bomb the Palestinians into a gazillion pieces any time they want…and it changes the essential geometry or attitudes not an iota, though some people will cheer and mistake tactical successes, e.g., enemy casualties, as signs of strategic success. In chess, there’s a condition called “zugzwang,” where any move you make weakens your postion. That’s what we’ve got on the ground in the Middle East. And there’s plenty of blame to go around: Palestinian, Israeli, American.</p>
<p>InterestedDad: LOL!!!</p>
<p>Well not quit mini. How many candidates and parties were disqualified in those elections. But if your point is bad folks can win popular elections you are absolutely right. The question is will they peacefully give up power if they lose them? It is a sad fact that Hitler was elected but it took a good chunk of the rest of mankind to remove him.</p>
<p>For my money and I think Bush’s too if they win free elections and keep their rapine within their borders then they must be left alone. That goes for Hamas and that dingbat in Venezuela. If we believe in democracy so long as a government behaves democratically we have to hold our nose and look the other way. If we can do it with the French we can do it with anybody :-)</p>
<p>The world is not a nice place and governments exist to eat out our substance and are universally run by thieves and thugs. Little good can come from it except to frighten off even worse thieves. A people would be wise to hang their leaders at least once every couple of generations to keep their cupidity within bounds.</p>
<p>no Hazmat, like aid</p>
<p><a href=“http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:8dnUe6STPtQJ:www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RS21594.pdf+US+aid+to+palestinians&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=20[/url]”>http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:8dnUe6STPtQJ:www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RS21594.pdf+US+aid+to+palestinians&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=20</a></p>
<p>maybe you neglect to remember that Bush is trying to work towards two viable states.</p>
<p>Catothe Censor:
Hmmm. First posts. What’s your alias?</p>
<p>“How many candidates and parties were disqualified in those elections. But if your point is bad folks can win popular elections you are absolutely right.”</p>
<p>The differences between the winning and losing parties in Iran are far, far greater than those among our Republocrats. Of course, we mainly disqualify parties and cadndiates by income, minimum access to ballots, shutting them out of debates, banning political speech in our marketplaces, refusing access to the mass media.</p>
<p>Don’t be so holier than thou. It betrays the similarities between the U.S. and the religious fervor of political parties and institutions in Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, etc. far more than the differences.</p>