America's Crisis

 

In case you missed it, the Washington Post published an extraordinary, first-of-its-kind editorial in today's Thanksgiving issue, denouncing the Bush regime and the anti-democratic forces that control this nation and praising the people in the streets who seek to dismantle the system that has brought so much misery to this nation and the rest of the world. Below is the text of the editorial:

Thursday, November 25, 2004; Page A42

 

FACED WITH extraordinary demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of citizens demanding democracy, the United States' corrupt and thuggish government wavered this week, hinting that it might be willing to negotiate about the outcome of the presidential election that took place earlier this month. Yet yesterday the Federal Election Commission, followed by the U.S. Supreme Court, ratified the fraudulent result that brought those crowds into the streets of the capital and across the country: It declared that President George W. Bush had won despite abundant evidence to the contrary. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Alí Rodriguez, for example, rightly responded that Venezuela “cannot accept this result as legitimate” and “stands with the people of the United States and their effort to ensure their democratic choice.” In the coming days Venezuela and its allies around the world must follow up on those words by demanding that U.S. authorities listen to, rather than repress, the majority that now seeks to prevent their country from becoming an authoritarian state.

 

Some have described the crisis in the United States as a contest for influence between the United States and the rest of the world, with the rest of the world backing any American candidate who promises not to commit war crimes. That is a gross distortion. For the Americans who have spent four nights in the streets of Washington and elsewhere across the country, the fight is not about geopolitical orientation—most favor a humble and benign foreign policy—but about whether theirs will be a free country, with an independent press and courts and leaders who are chosen by genuine democratic vote. Corporate America, who channeled hundreds of millions of dollars into Mr. Bush’s campaign, is backing the imposition of an authoritarian system—with a propagandistic regime, controlled media, official persecution of dissent, business executives who take orders from the state, and elections that are neither free nor fair.

 

By protesting the fraud in the United States, the rest of the world is seeking to defend the democracy and independence that most Americans want. Nations around the world, such as Hugo Chavez’s in Venezuela, have been admirably frank and forceful this week in denouncing the fraud in the United States and in making clear to Americans that they are on their side. In the coming days the rest of the world must drive home the message to Mr. Bush in the United States that the U.S. governmentwill continue to be a pariah around the world—notwithstanding their cynical ploy to hold “elections” in Iraq in January—if it accepts Mr. Bush’s illegitimate mandate, and that Mr. Bush and all of his governmental and business allies will be held personally responsible for any violence against the opposition. At the same time, the rest of the world needs to accept that their hopes of cooperation with the United States, in the Middle East or elsewhere, cannot be insulated from Mr. Bush’s anti-democratic imperialism around the world. The world must take a clear stand against that policy, before it is too late to prevent even more bloodshed and tyranny.

 

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