Afghanistan Experiences Elections, And All Its Troubles

overly-pessimistic news article

Afghanistan's historic presidential election turned sour Saturday when all 15 candidates opposing U.S.-backed interim President Hamid Karzai withdrew in the middle of voting, charging the government and the United Nations with fraud and incompetence.
In the end, faulty ink - not Taliban bombs and bullets - threatened three years of painstaking progress toward democracy. The opposition candidates claimed the ink used to mark people's thumbs rubbed off too easily, allowing for mass deception.

To be honest, I don't see how this differs greatly than Florida in 2000. In Afghanistan, some claim black ink wipes off. In Florida, some claimed black voters were wiped out.
In Afghanistan, bitter losers don't want to recognize the rightful winner. In Florida, a bitter loser still has difficulty recognizing the winner.
In Afghanistan, the minor candidates whine that the major candidate had too many votes. In Florida, a major candidate whined that minor candidates had too many votes.

Now I see why Muslims resisted democracy. You have to deal with a lot of politicians, rather than one dictator. Plus, in a democracy, the population has some minor responsibility for whatever goes wrong, though they hate to admit it. In a dictatorship, they know whom to blame, and they are hacked to pieces if they admit it.

Just imagine how bad it would be if many Afghanis had television...
"Do you live in a mud shanty, but want your children to own a hovel, made partially out of rock? Do you want national health benefits like painkillers for amputations, malaria-free needles for tuberculosis vaccinations, and uninfested food for those with malnutrition? Do you want a president who believes strongly in Islam, but wont execute your family? Then vote Hamid Karzai, they guy who's currently in charge and will probably win, anyway! Hamid Karzai is a veteran of the anti-Taliban war, and rode a camel through dangerous sand dunes. Hamid Karzai is firmly anti-Taliban, unlike some candidates who change positions every day. Hamid Karzai will create one job in Afghanistan each and every month that he is president. Hamid Karzai will also protect our lakes and forests.. if we ever get any, that is. Vote for Hamid Karzai for President, or he will tell the US you are hiding terrorists and they will blow up your house. Hamid Karzai, America’s choice for Afghanistan’s president.”

I couldn’t resist. I know it's incredibly insensitive, but I had to joke about political campaigns. And, jokes about foreign campaigns are more effective than jokes about the US election, because American's don't have an opinion on Afghanistan's election.