--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "shempmcgurk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@> > wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, MDixon6569@ wrote: > > > > > > In a message dated 9/17/06 9:41:17 A.M. Central Daylight Time, > > > jstein@ writes: > > > > > > Unfortunately, there are many who say they aren't evolved > > > enough to handle democracy and need a Saddam > > > > > > Who has said that? Can you give us *just one* name > > > and quote? > > > > > > Yes , A democratic Senator ot Congressman just recently > > > said that Iraq was better off under Saddam. I think it > > > was Jay Rockafeller. I'm pretty darned sure Offworld > > > and Easy1 would agree. > > > > I'm asking for a name and quote from someone who > > says Iraqis aren't evolved enough to handle > > democracy. I gather you just made that part up. > > http://tinyurl.com/nw4wc
Not only does not one of these Google hits say anything about Iraqis not being able to handle democracy because they aren't evolved enough, not one expresses the opinion that Iraqis can't handle democracy *for any reason*. The closest any of them comes is to say (as of January 2005) that they weren't prepared for an election because of a lack of security and lack of education about the issues. (He was wrong on that point, in that elections were indeed held; whether they should be considered a successful exercise in democracy is another question entirely.) All the rest, Shemp, were *disagreeing* with the proposition that Iraqis can't handle democracy. And this was obvious just from the text included in the list of hits; you didn't have to actually look at the pages to realize that. But you didn't even bother to read the hits. Now, here's what George Bush said in May 2004: "There's a lot of people in the world who don't believe that people whose skin color may not be the same as ours can be free and self- govern. I reject that. I reject that strongly. I believe that people who practice the Muslim faith can self-govern. I believe that people whose skins aren't necessarily -- are a different color than white can self-govern." Asked to give examples of the white racists Bush seemed to be referring to, press secretary Scott McClellen later said Bush simply meant that some people felt those in some Middle Eastern countries were unable to "live in freedom." (Note also Bush's phrase "people whose skin color may not be the same as ours." By "ours," presumably he meant Americans. Apparently Bush thinks people whose skin color isn't white are not really Americans.) Even leaving out "evolved" and skin color, the idea that some people say Iraqis aren't able to handle democracy was one of Bush's famous straw men. The right wing, of course, assumed there was a significant number of people who were making such an argument, because Bush had said so, and proceeded to denounce the idea (that's what most of the folks in your Google hits are doing). In fact, if there are *any* people making that argument, it's a very small number. It's not a significant part of the debate about Iraq. And *nobody*, to my knowledge, has argued that Iraqis "aren't evolved enough" to handle democracy (with the possible exception of the two people on this forum MDixon cites). The "better off under Saddam" idea, to which MDixon tried to backpedal, refers not to any inherent inability of Iraqis to handle democracy, but rather to the simple fact that under Saddam, Iraqis didn't have to worry about being blown up left and right by suicide bombers, or kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by death squads (over 200 in the past week). And that, of course, is a measure not of how wonderful Saddam was but of the utter mess the U.S. has managed to make of Iraq through sheer incompetence. *Even under Saddam*, in other words, the Iraqis were better off than they are now. That's called *irony*. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
