Thursday, January 26, 2006

Good Morning: The Hamas terrorist group won the Palestinian elections. So much for democracy fixing everything in the Middle East. Needless to say, I'm not in a good mood now. (Then, Blogger crashed all morning)

I'm trying to remember the last time the Palestinian people did something that didn't piss me off. From dancing in the streets on 9/11 to voting for a terrorist group that wants to kill off Israel, I find little reason to be sympathetic for them at all. I'm glad to see that the Bush administration to continue its hard stance against Hamas, demanding that they give up terrorism before being treated as a diplomatic equal.

Now I'm sure the Palestinians are good people (some, at least). And part of the reason that they voted the Fatah out were concerns of rampant corruption. And the Hamas ended up being the strongest alternative.

In fact, that happens a lot in elections. Sometimes voters turn to an alternative party not so much for the platform but to teach the party in power a lesson. I think that partly explains the Conservative victory in Canada as well.

Of course, voters need something to vote for, and not just against. That's why I'm harping on the Democrats to put more hawks on the ballots. Letting the Republicans rule America uncontested is only going to let them get comfortable, which ineveitably leads to corruption (ie, Abramoff). That's not a shot against Republicans; that's just the nature of power. But if Democrats can't provide a viable alternative, then they share some of the blame as well.