Sarah Six-Pack: Shocks and Awes The World- Autocrats for Middle East Democracy
Sarah (drill, baby, drill) PalinThe campaign as seen overseas:
It is waiting time and they all check the Intrade website on a daily basis. Some put their money where their sentiments are, a big mistake for gamblers.
They are all waiting for the winner, the new administration- whatever it is. Most of them, like most people in the United States, by now expect Obama to win. Most Europeans (Old Europe mostly), Middle Easterners (outside the ruling oligarchies), most Latin Americans (some enclaves in Argentina, Chile, and Paraguay excepted) and Africans for good measure all want Obama to win.
The few exceptions are inexplicaby in some Asian countries- and they are not even bitter white men caressing their guns while swigging their Buds either. No Joe Six-Packs a la Palin over there.
Maybe Jim Crow has moved to parts of Asia where they do have their tight caste and sectarian systems, tighter than a mouse's, as they say.
Tighter than a mouse's: now that's a folksy down to earth thing Sarah Six-Pack could have used in the debate last night, in addition to doggone and gosh darn. Joe Biden should have one upped her by snapping "dognabbit!". Then she, of course, would have taken out a corncob pipe and stuck it in a corner of her mouth, with a wink to the ordinary folks out there.
Still, a lot of the oligarchs and potentates were scrambling last night to figure out this new weapon, the doggonit and the goshdarn. Now a couple of them comely winks and the corncob pipe stuck in the mouth (with the proverbial lipstick) would have been seen as a sure sign of a "why don't you come on up and see me sometime, big shaikh?" message.
The petroleum potentates in the Mideast probably loved her cheerleading cry: "Drill, baby, drill" even without the pompoms they like so much.
The horrible past seven years, with their real, threatened, and imminent wars, have cured them from any goodwill toward the Republican Party- if there ever was any such thing since after the days of Eisenhower. Actually there was some of that pro-GOP sentiment in recent years, but it was confined to the ruling classes in the moderate New Middle East of life-time dictators, absolute tribal monarchies, and polygamist petroleum oligarchies. The ordinary people can't distinguish one particular end of a moose from their own rulers either- they are not folksy in an Alaskan way. After seven years of mayhem in their region, most ordinary people of the Mideast can't distinguish the rear end of a moose from several people in Washington DC. They don't have access to six packs, no Abdul Six-Pack over there and they can't tell one end of a moose from another over there.
A New Stunt:
Next Tuesday night look for the desperate McCain to pull another stunt at the debate: like asking Obama if he can borrow ten bucks- as an advance on the middle class tax cut he is promising. Except he is not middle class. Nor is Sarah Palin probably but they don't know it. And how can Barack reply "No, you can't?"
Autocratic democrats and other issues:
"Sunnis have lighted the fire of terrorism, and the Shi'as have put out the lights of democracy: it is noticeable that all Islamic parties that hinder the democratic process in our region are connected to Iran, i.e. they are Shi'a mostly. They are the ones who hinder democracy in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Bahrain, and in Iran as well." Chief editor of Asharq alawsat (Oct 4), Saudi daily. Sort of like the pot calling the kettle black.
It is true that Islamic parties don't really believe in democracy as defined by people electing their leaders. They believe in a rule of the Emir (for Sunnis) or the Imam (for Shi'as). Iran does have a distorted version of an electoral process where the theocracy has control and intends to keep it at any price- like all regimes in the region. But since when was Saudi Arabia, which does not even elect dogcatchers, a supporter of democracy?
An Egyptian official has blamed the victims, the residents of a poor district of Cairo for a building collapse that killed tens of people. Such incidents are common in Ehypt. He said the residents did not use proper 'toilet' etiquette and that cause water to seep and cause the evntual collapse. Sort of like blaming the mortghage crisis on people who cannot afford mortgages.
Cheers
mhg
m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com
Comments