The Meaning of Democracy

To paraphrase the late Winston Churchill: Democracy is the worst form of government ever devised, save for all the others. Certainly it has its drawbacks, but it is a fair measure of the will of the preponderance of the population.

As a Canadian, I trust I will be forgiven my lack of comprehension of the American left, who, ironically, are generally referred to as Democrats. It seems that many of them would like to leave their country now that George W. has been reelected. This after he was elected with a majority in excess of 51%. That is true chutzpah. By the way Bubba never even came close to a majority. I believe the best he got was 48%.

Clearly those who are proposing to vote a second time, with their feet, are not serious. It is like Alex Baldwin's threat during the 2000 election, but so far as I am aware he is still in the US. Or again, Robert Redford saying he would move to Ireland if Dubya was reelected. It seems he too is staying put. But should he actually go through with it, Ireland's loss would be America's gain.

Will the liberals never grow up? They behave like children who, if they do not win the game, take their ball and go home.

The fact is the majority of Americans voted for George Bush. Unless my understanding is wholly deficient, that is an end to the matter. The country comes together and works for the greater good of the nation as a whole. To do otherwise is an invitation to anarchy.

The British parliamentary system has a quaint name for the losing side. It is referred to as the 'loyal opposition'. Loyal not to the winning side, but to the nation. It seems to me, an admitted outsider, that if the Democrats are ever to come back (albeit, from my perspective it would be no great loss if they did not) they will have to come to terms with this concept.

To paraphrase Churchill yet again: If they open a quarrel between the past and the present, they will find that they have lost the future.