May 22, 2007

On democracy

Couple of stories this morning on the nature of democracy. One dealt with the problems of 911 service, especially in the age of cell phones. We voted not that long ago to fix our own system to allow the system to catch up to the technology. Listening to this story, however, we heard that Missouri is way behind on this issue, and some 23 counties don't even have 911 service for land lines. They interviewed one of the state senators who said that his constituents hated taxes so much that they preferred no new taxes over an improved 911 service. Are you kidding me?

This is Republican talking points gone nuts. This is what you get when you say that "all taxes are bad."

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Item 2. Interesting op-ed connects the US Attorney scandal to Iraq:
"One benchmark the Bush team has been urging the Iraqi government to meet is to rescind its broad 'de-Baathification' program - the wholesale purging of Baathists after the fall of Saddam - which has alienated many Sunnis and hampered national reconciliation.
But while the Bush team has been lecturing the Iraqi Shiites to limit de-Baathification in Baghdad, it was carrying out its own de-Democratization in the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. We would feel that we had failed in Iraq if we read that Sunnis were being purged from Iraq's Ministry of Justice by Shiite hard-liners loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr - but the moral equivalent of that is exactly what the Bush administration was doing here. What kind of example does that set for Iraqis?"
That doesn't appear the only contradiction. Bush pushing for less religion in government in Iraq while stocking our own with religious fundamentalists, or criticizing just about any other country for their civil rights policies. (Take note, there N15, the next time we criticize Iran or anyone for jailing someone or mistreating them in jail. We used to have a certain legitimacy doing that, but now, everyone laughs at us.)

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The last story was also on NPR this morning about the conservative war critic--Andrew Bacevich--who lost his son in Iraq on Mothers day. He asked what kind of a democracy we have when the people have spoken so loudly and nothing happens?

I wished I had an answer. I want so badly to believe that our system still works.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

We don't have a democracy, we have a republic. Point taken about the war. I can't understand why the president, and much of Congress, continues to ignore what we want. I believe our system works, but it seems that most of our politicians don't feel accountable. What other answer is there?

As for the 911 service, did people specifically vote down funding for 911 or is there just little money left over for the service. I am not a fan of 'too much' taxes, but I'll vote to fund 911.

Streak said...

Steve, I am assuming you don't mean to imply that I am a moron with your first statement. I think the use of the word "democracy" in a "democratic republic" is still a useful term, isn't it?

As for the taxation, I feel like I am repeating myself. These are exactly the kinds of taxes that I think should be embraced as a positive good. Not all taxes are bad--and many are investments in things like community.

The GOP doesn't understand that.

Anonymous said...

That is a fair assumption. I may disagree with you on some things, but I know you are intelligent. I also assume you know the difference between a democracy and a democratic republic. There are many that do not. No insult was intended.

I think the GOP understands the need for taxes...at least in my state. I lived in area that still doesn't have touch tone phone service, but they have 911. My neighbor had a stroke and the emergency responders were there within 10 or 15 minutes.