Promoting a ''do as I say, not as I do'' view of democracy
Feb. 27, 2005 12:00 AM
I fear that something President Bush said last week might be taken out of context by the liberal media and used to influence the most naïve and susceptible among us, including schoolchildren and Arizona politicians. Though not necessarily in that order.
Standing next to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a news conference, Bush said, "Democracies have certain things in common. They have a rule of law, and protection of minorities, a free press, and a viable political opposition."
I'd guess that when the president mentioned "protection of minorities" it sent chills down the spines of Arizona legislators (or would have if they had any). Our politicians recently passed House Concurrent Memorial 2005, an "official postcard" to Congress urging its members to discriminate against a minority by promoting a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. advertisement
And that's not all. Children are a minority group in Arizona. Given the fact that a greater percentage of kids here live in poverty than in most other states, some left-winger might imply that Arizona's government isn't being very "democratic" according to the president's own definition.
Simply remind such a person that Bush wasn't talking to us. He was talking to the Rooskies. And he was doing so in a "do as I say, not as I do" kind of way.
That's why he was able to describe the need for a democratic "rule of law" with a completely straight face. After all, this is a the man whose new attorney general once advised the president that the international conventions against torture applied only within the United States, not while handling foreign prisoners overseas.
Although that rule seems to apply as well in Maricopa County, where some prisoners sleep outside in tents, some work on chain gangs and more than one inmate who hasn't had a trial or been convicted of a crime has died of asphyxia while being restrained in the local jail. The same thing happened to some detainees being held by Americans in Iraqi prisons.
Bush also wasn't embarrassed and didn't burst out laughing when he mentioned a "free press." The Bush administration has paid one columnist $240,000 to write in support of its programs. Paid another columnist $21,500. And paid another $10,000. There's nothing "free" about that. They also allowed a guy using a fake name and working as a Republican Party shill to attend supposedly legitimate presidential news conferences.
At the same time, the administration punishes those who happen to not agree with it or who actually believe in the First Amendment to the Constitution by raising the fines that can be levied for offensive speech to such a degree that a number of television stations were afraid to air the movie Saving Private Ryan for fear it might bankrupt them.
As for a "viable political opposition" I'd guess that when the Russians heard that they shared a hearty laugh with Bush and said, "You mean like Democrats?"
The important thing is that you shouldn't allow liberals to convince you that Bush's comments to Putin were some kind of unintended and ironic commentary on the United States. The president said, "Democracies always reflect a country's customs and culture." Then he mentioned the stuff about rule of law, protection of minorities, a free press and viable political opposition.
Putin answered him in Russian but I didn't hear the translation. After studying the expression on Putin's face, however, I'm guessing that he said something like, "I'm rubber. You're glue. Whatever you say bounces off me and sticks on you."
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