The word of the day1 for March 8, 2007 is “democracy” — noun 1 a : government by the people; especially : rule of the majority b : a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections. 2 : a political unit that has a democratic government. 3 capitalized : the principles and policies of the Democratic party in the United States <from emancipation Republicanism to New Deal Democracy -- C. M. Roberts>. 4 : the common people especially when constituting the source of political authority. 5 : the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privileges
It struck me this morning that we are going about the Iraq business all wrong. If we want them to have Democracy, we need to tell them that they are not ready for it. We need to pull all our troops and civilian contractors out (before the British do, according to a Wichita, KS pundit, so we can blame the “loss” of Iraq on them). Then we tell Iraq that their president has just been upgraded to Pasha-King-High-Panjandrum. His word must be perceived as even more repressive than Hussein’s rule ever was. We must keep telling the Iraqis they can’t have democracy. They won’t be allowed to vote on anything because they can’t agree on anything anyway.
Arm everybody, including women and children capable of carrying a weapon. Mention to Turkey, Afghanistan, Kuwait, etc., that they might want to watch their borders for possible refugees. Offer the bordering states help in watching the borders (We do such a good job of that.) Then just watch. Either the Iraqis will kill one another off, or they will get it together and form a democracy just to prove us wrong.
The quote2 for today is from Oscar Wilde (1854–1900), first published in The Fortnightly Review (Feb. 1891). “The Soul of Man Under Socialism” (1895):
Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.
;^) Jan
1 The definition is from either Merriam-Webster Online, 10th Edition or The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition and is used by permission.
2 The quote is from either Bartleby: Great Books on Line or The Quotation Pages and is used by permission.
P.S.: Comments and word requests are welcome.
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