Recently, Jay Honeck posted:

I don't know about the Balkans, but in Iraq we have not overthrown a
tyrant or two that hasn't been replaced by another tyrant or three.

??? What news reports are you reading?

Apparently, the same one's that I've been reading, where those in the
Iraqi "government" are imposing unsanctioned rules on the locals in the
few small areas where they can function at all.

Oh, wait, you're referring to the street violence again. Check out
East St. Louis on a Saturday night, and report back how well our own
democracy is working there.

You guys are hilarious. You expect democracy to work in the Middle
East overnight, when we've got portions of many American inner cities
that -- after 230 years -- can't even be patrolled safely by law
enforcement, let alone visited by normal Americans. .

When was that last time you spent any time in one of our major inner
cities, Jay? What do you *know* of living there? What do you *know* of
what is and isn't "rational behavior" there? From your comments, I'd say
you've spent no time in that environment; is that incorrect?

Life in those areas has been pretty much the same ever since such areas
were built, and the reason for the violence in those areas is pretty much
unchanged too. It isn't that those areas "...can't even be patrolled
safely by law enforcement...", they certainly could be, but aren't. So,
gangs and mob rule fill the void created by the lack of law enforcement
who are spending their time and resources in more affluent areas of the
city. The same choice has been made by local governments for over a
hundred years in cities like New York and Chicago. And, those police
departments are well known for their "integrity", aren't they?

Give it time. Sane people eventually LIKE democracy, flawed though it
may be.

If those residents weren't being disenfranchised at the polls, perhaps
they could give it a try.

Neil