Through three years, over 200 billion U.S. dollars and two U.S. occupied, war ravaged countries, (Afghanistan and Iraq) we too have been bombarded in America with the constant rhetoric that the right to vote and choose ones own government is the cornerstone of the very democracy that we must deliver to the world, through example and when need be, and of late through brutal, military force.
Yet in the wake of several elections held world wide by fledgling democracies, (both voluntarily or otherwise) the results and returns of said elections are more and more frequently devalued, degraded and dismissed by the same American elected leadership who until the ballots were counted and proved to be less than mirror philosophies of our own choosing, heralded as our victory in restoring to the world its new order.
Now the rhetoric is being spun out selectively and with shiny new qualifying conditionals, which insist that the right to vote is not so much democracy as is freedom and liberty (of some unknown definition) for the people of any given country or region.
Freedom and liberty, by just whose standards?
The degree of freedom and liberty in other countries is a matter to be addressed, implemented and enforced by the laws created by those governments and leaders fairly elected by the people of those countries in open and honest elections, not dictated or made to pass or fail on the standards or expectations of any other sovereignty or nation, no matter what the capital contributions or military influence might be from them. Nothing could be more basic, be it here or around the globe. In order for these laws and constitutional particulars to take place, the needed initial catalyst of freely held elections truly is the cornerstone. And as such the very germ of democracy, no matter what political shape it takes after conception.
A quick look around the globe at some of today's election results and the disdain with which they are being met by the one world super power who claims to be the standard bearer of democracy will tell you that obviously, there's more expected from these new democracies than what the precluding rhetoric would imply
In spite of the obvious popularity and support of their people to elect them by a far larger margin at times than either a Democrat or a Republican can hope for here, in America, the heart of democracy…
Venezuela's new President is dismissed by our leaders as a "wacko". Bolivia's newly elected populist leader is branded "leftist" and "foe of the U.S.". Iran's newly elected leadership is labeled and dismissed (in the least flattering manner) as a "fundamentalist, theocrat". And now, ignoring the will of the Palestinian people, their newly elected party of Hamas is being shunned and denied even the slightest recognition by the west because (it has been said repeatedly) "the US cannot support a government that advocates the destruction of another country".
[ZNOTE: Please see line one in sentence one of this blog for the glaring contradiction and hypocrisy behind this posture. Sure some governments couch their destructive tendencies behind terms like "regime change" or "delivering democracy" or "self defense" albeit against unfounded weapons threats…while others are just up front about their bad intentions…it's all regime change that these governments are ultimately after regardless of whether they use verbal flowers or spears …the end result is equally and ultimately destructive to another people in any event, however. Let's not split hairs on this. All acts of national aggression are done with one purpose… "regime change"!]
The big picture is once again being ignored at the expense of international cooperation and building cohesion in our global village. More likely, many heads of state, primarily Western and European are proving how rigidly obstinate they can be in first compelling the third world to become democratic, then insisting further that only one particular flavor of democracy will ever be acceptable in a partnership rather than on what should be an all inclusive world membership.
Many of us have had club houses as children. Many of us looked down on and excluded any other kid in the neighborhood who didn't agree with us on which super hero was the best, what TV show star ruled the air waves, or which was the best comic book. Based on this sort of criteria, all other kids or club houses with opposing views were excluded or warred upon as a result and based on this sort of commonality, each little cluster of neighborhood children would base the world standards on their own finite culture, needs and visions.
It's high time, the world leadership grew up and replaced this clubhouse mentality in if for nothing more, an appreciation for the fact that at this time in mankind's history, there is more genuinely democratic voting taking place than at any other time since. And in spite of the diversity in the types and politics of these newly choosen leaders of the people, it's been a great century for democracy itself.
Sure democracies are not always ideal. Sometimes the saints don't come marching in on the day following an election and there remains a vast difference between these democracies due to culture alone that can often be attributed to the 180 degree planetary location and philosophical bend.
Sometimes, in even the more experienced democracies, a near 50% of the people who accepted chosen leadership through elections remain diametrically opposed to who holds the reigns of power until their next opportunity to vote and speak to the issue of good leadership. But we hold the elections anyway and uphold the ultimate choice of the people.
That's the way democracy works. It's like having a call from an umpire in baseball. There's no choice but to accept it. "There's no crying in baseball!"
We cannot simply take our ball and go home because we don't like the call or in these cases, the person(s) elected.
There's no "home" to take our ball and go to.
Welcome to planet Earth… (Synonym: Home)
And we all have no choice but to play together regardless of the politics, whether it's here or Bolivia or Israel or Iran or Venezuela.
Look, on the bright side, democracy itself is working more now than ever before whether you can see eye to eye with those other kids in those other club houses or not. Work with it! Or chalk it up as yet another failed social experiment.
And, you know, we in America are not in possession of a perfect democracy either, although you would never suspect that during a state of the Union or during campaign season and certainly not by the speeches and music behind the fireworks displays on the 4th of July.
I mean, if you wish to see the imperfections of our system, look at the administration that we've put in power for the last 6 years!!!
What the hell were we thinking??
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