The 2012 Campaign for Voter Supression

Iraq held its first free election, which had a fair representation of all groups on January 30, 2005.  The Iraq elections were as politically iconic for George W. Bush as was the "Mission Accomplished" speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, which was second only to the President's arrival on the carrier in full military flight gear.

The photo-op of Iraq’s elections were substantially important to the Bush administration in support of the administrations' "nation building" and "spreading democracy" agendas, which were a second term opening promise of Bush (circa January 2005).  More importantly, Iraq’s elections purportedly confirmed Bush’s successful implementation of a democracy, and therefore his newest justification for the war in Iraq.  This was W’s third tortured attempt at arriving at a rationalization for invading a sovereign nation, and many believe it strained the administration’s credibility even further.

We all remember the iconic photos of the Iraqi people with purple dye on their fingers, and what appeared to be a well-organized and efficient process of voting.

Following the elections, President Bush was quoted: "resounding success" and "the world is hearing the voice of freedom" [from the Middle East.]  "By participating in free elections, the Iraqi people have firmly rejected the anti- democratic ideology of the terrorists…"

If we would have seen the kind of voter suppression in Iraq that we are currently seeing in The State of Florida, George W. and all of his republican NeoCon’s would have blown a gasket, and there is a good chance we would have witnessed a “Shock and Awe” that would have made the invasion of Iraq look like a couple of kids playing with firecrackers.

It appears that we need to do some nation building here at home, and we clearly need to take a hard look at promoting democracy in the United States of America.

Nation building and promoting true democracy in America is not going to happen with our current two-party system.  Both are bought and paid for by any variety of special interest groups.

Perhaps the time has come, in this generation, to heed the counsel of Thomas Jefferson.