From today's news conference with his pet Poodle. Thus spaketh Preznit No Grey:
...There's a lot of suffering in the Palestinian territory because militant Hamas is trying to stop the advance of democracy. ...
Hmmm...let's see, what is the definition of "democracy"?
de·moc·ra·cy Audio pronunciation of "democracy" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (d-mkr-s)
n. pl. de·moc·ra·cies
1. Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives.
2. A political or social unit that has such a government.
3. The common people, considered as the primary source of political power.
4. Majority rule.
5. The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community.
Hamas won 74 of 132 seats in the January 2006 Palestinian legislative election and is now the majority party of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Its vehemently anti-Israeli rhetoric has found a receptive audience amongst Palestinians, some of whom perceived the preceding Fatah government as corrupt and ineffective. Hamas has also established an extensive network of welfare programs throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip, further adding to its popularity. Since Hamas took control, the Palestinian territories have experienced a period of sharp internal conflicts, known as Fauda, in which many Palestinians were killed in internecine fighting.
So, Hamas meets the dictionary definition of being a democratically elected force in the Palestinian Government. Not that I'm a big fan of Hamas, but how can they really be against Democracy, when it brought them to power? Yeah, maybe I'm naive here, but dealing with the devil you know is often better than dealing with his unknown brother in the shadows.
We were not exactly big fans of the Soviets, and their form of government, but successive Adminstrations from Truman on worked with them slowly and incrementally to end the Cold War. We certainly were no more the ideological soul-mates of the Communists than we are of the Islamist Arabs, but we all have to live on this one planet.
Unless of course, Fearless Leader is planning manned missions to Mars using Hamas and Hezbollah volunteers.
