posted on August 16, 2005 05:44:55 PM new
Wanted: One Constitution
Iraqi lawmakers turn to eBay to solve their political problems
Aug. 16 - In what many in the international community are calling a bold shift in strategy, Iraq's National Assembly said today that it would give up its wrangling over a new constitution and would instead attempt to buy one on eBay.
The announcement of the National Assembly's decision to turn to eBay for its new constitution came at a press conference held by Iraq's Planning Minister, Barham Saleh.
"After much discussion, we have decided to seek a new national charter on eBay," Saleh said, adding, "I got a wonderful set of mixing bowls there just last week."
The decision to purchase a new constitution on the popular auction site, while seen as a drastic move by many in Baghdad, may be the only way to break the intractable logjam that has plagued the National Assembly for months.
But in the first day of surfing for constitutions on the eBay site, there were signs that old rivalries were rearing their ugly heads, as Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds fought for control of the computer's mouse.
After a coalition of Shiites and Kurds agreed to make a bid on a used constitution put up for sale by the tiny nation of Andorra, the Sunnis walked out, plunging the eBay process into chaos.
For his part, Mr. Saleh remained upbeat that Iraq would ultimately find its new constitution on eBay, telling reporters, "If for some reason this doesn't work, we'll try Amazon."
Elsewhere, in a positive development for the space program, NASA reported today that the new Mars orbiter has sent back dramatic pictures of the singer Courtney Love.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say 'No.'
