Text 8662, 98 rader
Skriven 2005-02-04 21:52:42 av Ed Connell (1:379/1.6)
   Kommentar till text 8634 av VERN HUMPHREY (1:123/140)
Ärende: Re: Tsunami Disaster Reli
=================================
Hey, VERN.

 Once more I'm hijacking this reply to post a column I just read.  I visited 
Cloudcroft, New Mexico last fall on the way to see the Trinity site and fell 
in love with the place.  It is almost 10 thousand feet high so summers are 
cool.  Winters - don't ask. <g>

Anyway, I get an email newsletter from there every week and I have every one 
of them on my web site going back almost a year.  This guy writes some 
commentary each time and it is quite varied - pets at home - a trip to 
Mexico for dental work - the local football team - and so on.  Usually his 
stuff is pretty interesting.  This time I thought the rest of you might 
enjoy his discussion.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CLOUDCROFT ONLINE NEWSLETTER #252
February 4, 2005
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dear Subscriber:

They're telling us anywhere from 65 to 75 percent of registered
Iraqi voters voted in their election this past weekend.

You remember the Iraqis. Those people a world away that we have
been told have no concept of what democracy is. Those people
that could care less about who runs their government. They just
want to be left alone to tend their camels and shops and the
things that go on in the government palaces and death camps is
none of their business.

Well over half of registered Iraqi voters said with their ballot
that they did care.

Compare that to the number of qualified voters that usually vote
in the USA.

When we have an election, we're proud of ourselves when 50
percent of us vote.

Of course, most of us have a good excuse when we don't vote.

We have to make a living. We have to take the kids to soccer
practice. We have a tee time. We're busy reorganizing the
sock drawer.

In Iraq, I'm sure the non-voters had their excuses as well,
flimsy as they may have been.

They could have been shot entering the polling place. There
could have been someone standing across the street from the
polling place taking notes on who was entering so they could
go to their homes later and kill everyone there or maybe they
would be snatched from the street and featured later on local
TV losing their heads.

What kind of an excuse is that?

And we think that we in the US are the guardians of democracy.

Maybe someone should organize classes on how to establish and
sustain a democratic government. Maybe a few Iraqis could come
here and teach the class.

True, Iraq has a long and often painful road ahead of them.
Terrorism is like an infestation. It's like termites. When
you think you're rid of them you're not. We're not rid of
terrorism in this country, either. The holes in the ground in
New York City where the Trade Center Towers used to be are
constant reminders that we're all in this thing together.

I followed the Iraqi elections on TV much like I did the
inaugural ceremonies in Washington last week. I get a kick out
of seeing history in the making. I watched with the fear that
the meanies would ruin it. They didn't. I watched as Iraqi
voters danced in the streets. During a commercial I got up to
go to the kitchen to make myself a sandwich. On the way I
danced a little jig of my own.

In an "in your face" gesture to the terrorists cowering around
the corners, the Iraqi voters held up their ink-stained index
fingers. The ink was a way of preventing voter fraud, but it
turned out to be a memorable badge of courage for each one of
them.

Here's an idea. In a gesture of solidarity with our brothers-
in-democracy in Iraq, maybe we should all dip our finger in ink
when we leave the polling place in our next US election.

Bad idea. Could mess up our manicures.

You can carry this democracy thing too far.

Don Vanlandingham
Cloudcroft.com 

--- Fidolook Lite FTN stub 
 * Origin: Procrastinate NOW, don't put it off for tomorro (1:379/1.6)