Good Point
An important comment today in the New York Times by Israeli politician Tzipi Livni:
"....as Israeli justice minister, I tried in vain to persuade the international community that to promote democracy it was not enough to focus on the technical conduct of elections, it was necessary to insist that those who sought the benefits of the democratic process accepted its underlying principles as well.
I want to point out that this is exactly how Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933. A number of very foolish politicians thought that, if Hitler was brought into the government, he would stop the Nazi's systematic use of violence to get their way. Hitler played them so successfully, based on this delusion, that he eventually manipulated them into making him Reich Chancellor in 1933. And the rest, as they say, is history. Having achieved his goals through violence and threats, why would he then abandon the means?
Livni continues:
"For this reason, the international community must adopt at the global level what true democracies apply at the national one — a universal code for participation in democratic elections."
Unfortunately, this is where we part company. It's no problem to adopt such a code, but how can you get people like Hamas, Al Qaida, or indeed even the Bushes and Cheneys of our country to follow it?
Tell me that, and I'm on board.
"....as Israeli justice minister, I tried in vain to persuade the international community that to promote democracy it was not enough to focus on the technical conduct of elections, it was necessary to insist that those who sought the benefits of the democratic process accepted its underlying principles as well.
At the time, the counterargument was that the very participation in elections would act as a moderating force on extremist groups. With more accountability, such groups would be tempted to abandon their militant approach in favor of a purely political platform.
But this analysis ignored the possibility that some radical groups sought participation in the democratic process not to forsake their violent agenda but to advance it."I want to point out that this is exactly how Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933. A number of very foolish politicians thought that, if Hitler was brought into the government, he would stop the Nazi's systematic use of violence to get their way. Hitler played them so successfully, based on this delusion, that he eventually manipulated them into making him Reich Chancellor in 1933. And the rest, as they say, is history. Having achieved his goals through violence and threats, why would he then abandon the means?
Livni continues:
"For this reason, the international community must adopt at the global level what true democracies apply at the national one — a universal code for participation in democratic elections."
Unfortunately, this is where we part company. It's no problem to adopt such a code, but how can you get people like Hamas, Al Qaida, or indeed even the Bushes and Cheneys of our country to follow it?
Tell me that, and I'm on board.
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