A Pimple On The Butt Of Democracy

(Hey, you think it’s easy to come up with titles for these posts?)

As we all listened to Dubya’s glorious speech full of his typical bubble-boy hyperbole about how peachy it is that free people throughout the middle east are embracing political reform and more would if only they’d just rise up and get rid of those nasty leaders who keep oppressing them (I mean, we all did listen, didn’t we? Or, at least, some of us, right? Any of us? Show of hands…), I found myself harking back to more glowing words from the red-state president that you can link to from here (I’m sure it must have been a site to behold in November 2003, watching Shrub invoke the name of the sainted Ronnie R. among the faithful repeatedly as the throng sighed in something which is probably as close as they come to orgiastic ecstasy).

Dubya’s speechwriters managed to name every country at that time where there was at least a rumor of some kind of activity related to a free press and open expression of popular political opinion, except one glaring omission. Can you guess which country that might be?

If you guessed Pakistan, then you get a free copy of “The Path To 9/11” on DVD, which includes a photo of Flush Limbore posing with all of his cute Disney pals (autographed by Flush himself), along with a complimentary pair of mouse ears that you can wear while watching.

As democracies go, Pakistan is a mess. And Dubya is due to meet with General Pervez Musharraf in a couple of days, so maybe it might be a good idea to talk to him about democratic reforms, right? And if I thought that would lead for real to something like what Dubya talks about, then I'd favor it; the problem is that this was part of the rationale for the Iraq war at it turned out, and to assume people in that area of the world would automatically embrace democracy is about as naive as you can get (which, sadly, most of us knew and others have learned the hard way).

And it might be dangerous by Musharraf to actually allow reform anyway (this is where Dubya’s pristine image of a “democratic, free market” middle east blows up in his face), since so much of that country hates our guts (and the feeling is mutual as far as I’m concerned), seeing as how Pakistan and Afghanistan are the biggest nation states out there that are sympathetic to al Qaeda. And their idea of democratic reform for Pakistan might be the ritual execution of the general currently in charge.

No sane person wants to see that, including me. But somehow I’m sure this is on the minds of those in charge of countries in that region who understand how they’ve been “painted into a corner” by Dubya’s stupid “us versus them” rhetoric.

And if I were Musharraf, I’d keep a loaded pistol by my side at all times, play ball with us, and do what I have to do to stay alive. I don't like the guy either, but the alternative is al Qaeda running the whole country with nukes at its disposal.

So let's save the jingoistic, naive speeches and instead try to keep Musharraf breathing for as long as possible, OK?

Update: Yep, I'd say "Fear And Smear 2006" is in full swing right about now (almost not deserving of mention, really, and in the blink of an eye, Dubya would say something to contradict that anyway - and here's some context from georgia10 at The Daily Kos).