Diebold Opens Palestinian Sales Office

Democracying would be easy if it weren't for that voting thing.

E. J. Dionne plays pedagogue to petulant, pre-pubescent Dubya:

Two Elections and a Lesson

In the elections for the Palestinian Authority, the voters also rose up against the incumbents. But in the process, they gave a majority to Hamas, a party that has embraced terrorism and would obliterate Israel.

[snip]

It was said that the way to peace in Jerusalem passed through Baghdad. It was said that by ridding Iraq of Saddam Hussein's wretched regime, the United States would unleash a democratic revolution in the Arab world. Go back and look at the broad claims Bush's defenders made for his policy after the election in Iraq just a year ago. Everything, it was said, was falling into place.

But the world is a complicated place. Of course free elections in Iraq are hugely better than dictatorship. But when free elections become more a census to count members of warring ethnic and religious factions than a way of settling underlying disputes, they do not necessarily pave the way for enduring democracy. They do not provide voters with ways of test-driving the various alternatives.

In the Palestinian case, Hamas's victory was not widely predicted, but its strong showing was predictable. Every serious analyst understood the frustration of the majority of Palestinians with those who have led them. Everyone knew that Hamas had created a new civil society -- a network of health and social service organizations -- within the old Palestinian structure that brought a wide base of grass-roots support.

The polls suggest that Hamas did not win because a majority of Palestinians bought into its terrorist program. Hamas won, precisely as Bush said, because voters were so unhappy with the status quo. But shouldn't Washington ask itself why it didn't take more dramatic steps, over a much longer period, to change the Palestinian status quo? Taking action in Iraq was not going to do the job.

[snip]

But democratization is hard, complicated and frustrating. It requires the patient building of institutions and attention to detail. There are no short cuts. You wonder if the president will come to terms with the flaws in his own status quo.

The only flaws Bush sees in his status quo are those pesky checks and balances and rights like free speech and stuff. Hey, just because its a democracy doesn't mean it's a free country!

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