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| Selling Democracy Has Never Been So Easy | ||||||
| Liberals are quite a ponderous breed. Following President George W. Bush's reelection victory last Tuesday came the almost instantaneous shouts of dissent from all parts of the Democratic Party. These shouts, much of which could be heard here at school and in the surrounding areas, are testament to the fact that people have forgotten what it is to be a democracy. In fact, it led me to ponder the following question: why is it easier to sell democracy in Afghanistan than it is in Southern California? | ||||||
| According to an Associated Press report from Nov. 4 regarding the outcome of the monumental Afghani general election, rivals of newly elected President Hamid Karzai - second place finisher Yunus Qanooni, Ethnic Hazara chieftain Mohammed Mohaqeq, and running mate of ethnic Uzbek strongman Abdul Rashid Dostum - all declared that they would accept and, perhaps more importantly, recognize Karzai as the winner of the election. "For me," Qanooni said, "Afghanistan's national interests are the most important. If we didn't accept the result, the country would go toward a crisis." | ||||||
| Imagine that: the people of Afghanistan, who had been oppressed for years by the Taliban as well as the country's infamous drug lords, exercised their new right and elected their leader. Furthermore, the losers actually accepted the fact that their man did not win and moved on! I can remember what that used to be like here in the United States: if your man didn't win you basically realized that your party would have another chance in four years, and in the meantime, you supported the winner, happy that you participated in the political process and tried to make a difference. Why is it that the Afghans can understand that but so many here in Southern California (not to mention the rest of the nation) cannot? | ||||||
| I am appalled by the lack of support and, dare I say, unAmericanism, demonstrated by so many living here in this great country. One of the most disturbing displays of disrespect that I heard came the day after the election, when a classmate of mine proudly declared that she hoped "George W. Bush is assassinated" and that "Dick Cheney dies of a heart attack." I expected to hear a fair amount of disgust regarding her comment, and I hoped that nobody would actually agree with her, but low-and-behold, another misguided girl took no time to vocally share her hopes of the same. Now, I realize that is an extreme stance that most liberals would not agree with, but the simple fact that the girl who made that utterance does not support her president or country is a feeling that is shared by way too many. You don't have to agree with the president, but at least show some support for your country and its leader. In other words, how about feeling proud of the fact that you are an American rather than degrading not only the system, but the president, too? | ||||||
| Democracy has made us the envy of the world since 1776, and is the hardest lesson for non-democratically conditioned people to learn and accept, but the Afghans got it right the first time around. Here at home, though, many Democrats are tearing their hair out, suffering massive depressions, swearing never to vote again, making plans to move out of the country altogether, and at minimum promising that four more years of President Bush will result in the extinction of the United States as we know it. Here's a message for all of you naysayers and doomsday prophesiers: your candidate lost; get over it. This country isn't run according to your terms alone, it is decided by a collective people, and that is exactly what we demonstrated on Nov. 2. We are still a democracy in the truest sense of the word. Now how about showing it? | ||||||
| Copyright Gerry Wachovsky, 2004, and Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. | ||||||
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