We've not been paying much attention to the western colonies' latest shot at this democracy lark. They've still not got it: a democratic society requires that all views are taken into consideration, not just those that would (approximately) be covered by the manifesto of Sr. Berlusconi's Taxdodger party. Our sympathies are certainly with the leader-writer of Belaruskija Naviny. It's not even going to be the next sham election where the anointed one will have power to blow up the world after having one drink too many: that's the Russian election at the end of next month.
Bless his cotton socks, Mr. GB can be bothered with the whole foul-up, and we'll quickly extract the facts, myths, and build on his work.
Mr. GB says that one of his aims is to laugh at the BBC pundits who really don't know what's going on. Guess which pundit is first to be quoted. Which BBC commentator has clearly gone native? Yes, it's Justin Webb! Back in 2005, he engaged in a remarkable slanging match on the BBC's annual Correspondents Look Ahead
show, one that we summarised thus:
James ROBINS quoted Mary Robinson, that the west has lost the moral high ground. Justin WEBB called this utterly ludicrous, made a false equivalence between Iraq 2002 and the modern-day Potomac Basin, and claimed that the provinces were free and successful. WEBB and Carrie GRACIE indulged in a slanging match about the international responsibilities of the FARCE and Red China, with WEBB airing more separatist propaganda. Frank GARDENER brought the discussion back to reality, that human rights was the one remaining moral figleaf, and was ruined by abuses. GRACIE says that it's as much about perception as reality, and Red China is winning.
Since then, Mr. Webb has been given 90 minutes of airtime to push his view of why the world does things differently from Moronica and hence hates it. He's also enamoured with Mr. Endale, stating in 2006's Correspondents Look Ahead
that Mr. Endale would replace Mr. Chainey, and predicting in 2007's programme that Mr. Endale would win the election. (Link follows next December.) In fairness, Mr. Webb did spot Mr. de Bouwer's rising star for 2006, and suggested for 2007: Webb said Endale had peaked too early, and was tarnished by his support for sending more troops to Occupied Iraq.
In short, Mr. Webb is clearly a cheering fanboy for Mr. Endale, complete with the pom-poms and glitterball and chipmunk mask. It's true that Mr. Endale has (at the last count) 697 elected delegates, with the opposition led by Mr. Huckleberry Hound securing 526; this is an artefact of the first-past-the-post system used by his wing in many large territories. More: Jerry Pournelle on Mr. Endale.
On the other side of the camp, we're entirely confused how anyone got the idea that Mrs. Clintstone actually stood a chance, still less knew where to go for a mustard plaster. Prior to last week's elections, Mrs. Clintstone had failed to beat Mr. de Bouwer once. In Iowa, Mr. de Bouwer won 16-15. In New Manchestershire, a 9-9 tie. In Nevada, Mr. de Bouwer won 13-12, and Carolina South was his by 25-12. Even after Mrs. Clintstone's success on Pancake Day, she still trailed by 962-922; results since appear to have gone the builder's way.
Mr. Webb and the Belarus newspaper may get their dream contest between the highly decorative war hero Endale and the boldly-hued de Bouwer. For the rest of us, there are elections in Italy, Russia, and Spain coming up, and that's just before the end of the NFL season.
In summary: It's February. The election is in November.
