posted on June 29, 2002 01:43:43 AM new
by asking "How About You, Mr. Bush" in response to the bush demand for democratic Palestinian elections.
I think you gotta' give him the point on that one.
Palestinian Authority President Yasir Arafat stunned the world
yesterday by demanding that the United States hold
democratic elections for a new Chief Executive before it
attempts to continue in its role as broker between Israel and
Palestine.
"Mr. Bush is tainted by his association with Jim-Crow-style
selective disenfranchisement and executive strong-arm tactics
in a southeastern province controlled by his brother," said Mr.
Arafat, who was elected with 87% of the vote in 1996 elections
in the West Bank and Gaza, declared to be free and fair by
international observers, including former U.S. president Jimmy
Carter. "Our count shows that he would have lost the election if
his associates hadn't deprived so many thousands of
African-Americans, an oppressed minority, of the right to vote.
He is not the man to bring peace to the Middle East."
Hugo Chavez, elected president of Venezuela with 62% of the
popular vote, concurred with Mr. Arafat. Chavez has long been
a victim of Bush's anti-democratic attitude, as the Bush
administration funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars
through the "National Endowment for Democracy" to
anti-Chavez forces and reportedly gave the go-ahead for an
attempted military coup by those forces. "After it was over and
I was back in power," said Chavez, "his administration actually
told me 'legitimacy is not conferred by a majority vote.' Unless,
of course, it's a majority of the Supreme Court. I respect the
local traditions, however quaint, of the United States, but he
hardly sets the best example for the Middle East, does he?
Why don't we get back to that idea of an international
conference to settle the question of Palestine?"
posted on June 29, 2002 10:33:31 AM new
Where will Bush take it if Arafat is elected with a carefully watched election?
It will look bad to say the will of the people does not matter.
Perhaps they can make changes so there is a Palestinian electoral college and a Palestinian Supreme Court to nullify the popular vote?
posted on June 29, 2002 11:36:32 AM new
The article says Satire at the top. Arafat didn't really say those things although he surely could have.Very funny article and the book that the author wrote might be an interesting read.
The USA is a joke to the international community.
