~ Kommentary by Kritter ~

this comment may seem ignorant, but it is my observation. i have a friend who has a degree in an international arena; she is a professor and has traveled to many third world countries. a common thread she hears is that not every person is in support of 'americanizing' their country. perhaps there were more imminent things to be taken care of instead of establishing a democracy. does the ability to vote really help if people are still dying enmass due to terrible living conditions, extreme poverty, etc? my friend mentioned to me once that she toured a hospital where animals were running through the halls (no windows in buidling) and there was no running water in the operating rooms. there was a huge piece of medical equipment that was sitting in the corner because no one knew how to use it. it was a multi million dollar gift from an american not-for-profit group, but no one was sent to train anyone on the machine. when we invade and take over countries and do what we think is best, do we ever stop to talk to the people and find out what they want, need, or care about? having the right to vote, is indeed a victory. one in assimilation. after all, the democratic process has proven so successful in electing the officials in accordance with the popular vote, here in the u.s. what makes this country great are the social systems and support we provide to anyone in need, not the way we vote. this country is great because we have a working middle class. it is the largest group, and we work to provide services for everyone who can't afford them. the bottom line, it is impossible to recreate the u.s.' systems in foreign countries. mostly b/c people don't want to be a mirror image of us. can you blame them?

I don't think your comments are ignorant at all. Thank you for sharing.

That white-haired guy on the right... he's the Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert.

LOL. I figured.

I didn't watch the State of the Union address; like I told my mom, I figured the transcript would be up online today (and it is!), so I'd rather just read it straight and not have to watch the cameras pan to so and so and so and so...

Yeah... and all the applause takes forever too.

"when we invade and take over countries and do what we think is best, do we ever stop to talk to the people and find out what they want, need, or care about? having the right to vote, is indeed a victory. one in assimilation."

I disagree with anon on this thought.
Invade? Assimilation?

Seems to me the Iraqi people are pretty stinking happy to have the chance to vote...

But there are some who are not happy with that decision, hence 50 people getting shot while voting. And who said the best thing for Iraq is democracy? Bush keeps saying "freedom" and "democracy" over and over again. But democracy isn't for everyone. McDonald's and Starbucks are not for everyone. We are a great nation, but that doesn't mean we have to be arrogant about it. "It's either our way or no way! It's democracy or you're an enemy!" Funny that Saudi Arabia doesn't have free elections, funny that they continue to behead people and harbor terrorists and we haven't invaded them yet to give them a taste of democracy and people there free elections.

As for the the speech, didn't watch it. I try so hard every year to watch it but didn't want to hear anymore lies about how great Iraq is and how the Social Security system is going to go bankrupt next year and leave seniors out on the streets.

PS -- my cousin David said there were Republicans at the SOTU that had purple fingers that they raised as Bush came in to celebrate the Iraqi vote. Please tell me David is lying. The Republicans can't be so tacky and belittling as that can they?

So what system of government would some of you suggest for Iraq? Should they go back to a dictatorship? Maybe they should be a monarchy? Or a theocracy like Saudi Arabia? Do those respect everyone's rights? Is there a system of government that respects the rights of the people as much as democracy?

i'm just not certain the price we/they paid for iraq's 'democracy' is worth it. the examples i gave were from a latino culture, where we think women have no powers or rights. from my friend's research and journeys, it would seem that it is predominantly a machismo culture, but when women choose to get involved, their words are revered, as they are the 'maternal voice' of their people. i think the biggest problem we, as americans, have is not taking five seconds to understand and respect foreign cultures. we want to 'feed the poor' in this country but complain when illegal immigrants enter this country to send $5 to their families, and it feeds that family for a month. we are all immigrants to this country. our generation just happens to have been lucky enough to be born here, and we so take it for granted. a homeless person in new york has more choices than wives in india who can be burned to death if they cheat on their husbands (honor killings?) but again, that country isn't on the bush hitlist, so who cares? the reasons we are in iraq are such a big joke, it just irritates me that now everyone seems to be rallying behind the massacre and its leader all because iraqis can vote. that makes everything ok, right?

sorry! at home sick today so i'm going comment crazy. kristi, you have a point, but if you had asked that same question of native americans, when this country was being established, i'm sure they would have rather continued their way of life, whether or not it was congruent with colonists' visions or not. it just proves that people's narrow minded views prevail. lest we forget the people who created this country did so because they wanted choices. if we thrust our choices onto another country how does this make us any different from the powers we were trying to escape?

We aren't "thrusting our choices" on another country. We just gave them the ability to choose who will lead them into the future. They have elected leaders who will decide what form their government takes and how it will function.

You may disagree with us going into Iraq, but how can you believe that what has happened is a bad thing.

You can't compare this to the Native Americans - that's a whole different topic entirely. They were not freed from a ruthless, oppressive dictator and then given the chance to rule themselves. Native Americans were chased out or killed during a country's expansion (some would compare it to conquest or seizure), where the inhabitants had no intention of ever leaving.

In Iraq it's differeny. We freed the people, and eventually we will leave them to rule themselves.

How dare the President speak to the American People on behalf of the Iraqi. Democratization is another word for Capitalization. So the Iraqi's got to vote? big fucking deal, they are not voting for a president in a well-stablished system - they are voting for a panel who will be the architechs of the new system - the problem is that Iraq is not the United States, and will never be. The other fact is that the U.S is only there to build military bases (guess where the billions of $$$ are going to? not to the iraqi schools!) and protect American Investments - THAT'S IT - this notion that somehow we care about the Iraqis or want to spread freedom around the world is purely fony and comercial rhetoric. Why is Iraq more deserving of our help, when millions of people are slaughtered in poor african nations? were do our priorities lie? or are we just waiting for the African people to kill eachother that way all we have to do is pick up the riches left behind from years and years of total ignored suffering? - the State of the Union is a buch of bolony and theatrics.