anton wrote:
How can you speak of democracy in America when you have a government that spies on its own citizens and you have the intrusive Patriot Act and the State Secrets Protocol which effectively prevents whistle blowers from speaking up as in the case of the former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds?
President GW Bush has done more to besmirch the integrity of your once respected country than any other president in the history of the USA, his administration has reintroduced the barbaric practice of torture to the civilized world, something I never imagined in my wildest dreams would come out of the country the west admired and held in such high regard.
Today I read where your closest ally Great Britain is severing the close ties it has with your government and looking to an "international approach" to global problems; Americans need to face the truth about their standing in the eyes of the world if they want to rekindle the trust and respect they once had.
So much good came from the USA, now I see only paranoia and aggression; it is so sad!
How can I speak (or write to be more precise) about democracy in America? Quite easily and with great confidence.
I suppose that it is quite a testament to the high regard in which America is held around the world that any flaw it might display is seen as a base betrayal to freedom lovers everywhere.
Fair enough though. It is the only great democracy that was created on the basis of democratic principles, and it is a nation that prides itself on American Exceptionalism (and rightly so by the way). It is the Leader of The Free World and the sole Superpower on earth (and quite benign at that).
In the real world there are no saints, only the least of sinners. To expect perfection in any human endeavor is simply childish. America is, by no means, perfect, but it is the best of an imperfect lot. Each of the possible sins of America which you have chosen to exaggerate can be found in each and every other great democracy.
I have not read that the UK has decided to end its "special relationship" with the US and I seriously doubt this is the case, but if it is true it is hardly based on an aversion to American Big Brotherism. Cameras are perched throughout London like a flock of techno-grackles. Their Official Secrets Act is far more encompassing than any similar statute in the US, and...they have no Bill of Rights.
In France the government has ordained that muslim girls are not to wear the hijab to public schools, and families must choose the names for their children among a list of State approved monikers.
In Australia, illegal immigrants (mostly muslim) are herded into containment camps.
On and on and on....
Come Jan 2009 the US will, without any doubt in the minds of serious thinkers, have a new president occupying the White House. Can the same be said about Russia and its Kremlin? What about the rest of the world?
The actions of the Bush White House that you find so terrible have been approved by the majority of Americans. What you term spying on Americans, most of us here understand is a valuable program to monitor international calls that might be the first steps in plotting another 9/11.
Somehow I suspect that such a virulent critic of America is not so satisfied with democracy in his or her homeland of Australia. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I doubt it.
I travel to Australia with some regularity, and I have always found Australians to be overwhelmingly pro-American. Maybe I spend too much time with wealthy Australian capitalists, but I don't think so.
Frankly, if Australia and the rest of the world should think poorly of decisions America has made; of which I approve, I would not lose too much sleep.
Ultimately Australians worry about Australia, and rightly so. The same thing goes for the Brits, the French, the Japanese et al. And if the citizens don't, the government had better.
This may be perceived as arrogance, but it is merely realistic: Americans do not concern themselves with the doings of other nations to the same extent as the citizens of these nations concern themselves with the doings of America, because America is the Big Dog. When England was the Big Dog, it's citizens were blithely ignorant of the rest of the world.
If I were a British citizen it would probably tick me off that a government (American) over which I could exert no direct influence played such a large role in the fate of my country and my family. It's understandable but not compelling.
If "rekindling the trust and respect they (America) once had," means formulating our domestic and international policies to promote the interests and preferences of other nations, better it be left extinguished.
It's nice when everybody loves you, but it's not necessary.
America is a stalwart democracy and will, for reasons I have already enumerated, will remain as such for the foreseeable future.
