Why the Left Hates Democracy

Mo Rocca has appeared on a bunch of shows, including 'The Daily Show,' 'I Love the 80s,'...

Mo Rocca Feed

Why the Left Hates Democracy

Posted Dec 28th 2007 1:32PM by Dinesh D'Souza
Filed under: Breaking News, Iraq, Cultural Left, Islamic Radicals, Controversy

In response to my blog yesterday noting that the cultural left opposes democracy in the Muslim world, several people expressed indignation. One challenged me to provide a single example. Others lugubriously noted that they favored the idea of democracy but alas it wasn't succeeding in Iraq. Certainly it does seem odd that a left which is always calling for "more democracy" in America would resist democracy in Muslim countries.

Yet it's true, and my book The Enemy at Home provides chapter and verse. For instance, the leftist author Robert Fisk resolutely opposed America's attempt to introduce democracy in Afghanistan. Incredibly Fisk said that the Taliban government should be kept in power because it had nothing to do with 9/11. Leftist Howard Zinn also equated America's displacement of the Taliban and holding of free elections with the 9/11 attacks themselves, as though both were equivalent crimes. Leftist legal scholar Richard Falk called for a "negotiated settlement" with the Taliban in order to protect the country's "sovereign rights." If leading leftists such as Edward Said, Toni Morison, Jesse Jackson, Barbara Ehrenreich, Jane Fonda and Jim McDermott had their way, the U.S. would not have overthrown the Taliban government and Afghanistan would not have had free elections.

Immediately following the U.S. invasion of Iraq, leftist philanthropist George Soros warned that "I would consider Iraq the last place to choose for a demonstration project" in democracy. Why the Iraqis were ineligible to rule themselves, Soros did not say. When Iraq had its first free election, columnist Bob Herbert said it meant nothing because "a real democracy requires an informed electorate" while the Iraqi people were "woefully uninformed," apparently because they didn't make the choices that Herbert wanted. Leftist columnist Robert Dreyfuss said the Iraqi elections were invalid because "the Sunni community was tricked into voting" and moreover the elected Sunnis "do not represent the resistance." Apparently Dreyfuss thinks car bombers need representation too! Ivan Eland wrote in The American Prospect, "Spreading democracy doesn't reduce terrorism and, if anything, actually makes it worse." How democracy promotes terrorism, Eland neglected to explain.

Notice how the cultural left routinely condemns Bush for "hypocrisy" in using the rhetoric of democracy while the U.S. is allied with secular despots, but very rarely do leftists call for free elections in countries like Syria, Egypt or Saudi Arabia. There was even some cheering on the left when Turkish generals threatened a coup to subvert the elected government from holding free elections a few months ago. So why does the left hate democracy in the Muslim world? The reason is simple. Muslims are socially conservative and generally want a greater role for Islam in their private and public lives. Consequently Muslim democracies are likely to be more conservative socially than they are when secular despots rule them. The left fears Muslim democracy because it is terrified of Muslim values, especially sharia or Muslim holy law. Feminists and gays are not likely to fare very well under Muslim holy law.

When Iraqis rejected secular candidates and voted for a party that pledged to have sharia, at least in some forms of domestic law, the New York TImes howled that democracy could be "consigning Iraqi women to a life of subjugation." Columnist Maureen Dowd warned that "the Iraqi election may actually be making things worse" because "it is going to expand the control of the Shia theocrats." These complaints might have some plausibility if women or Sunnis were not permitted to vote. But women and men both voted for the Dawa party, and so essentially the Times and Dowd were arguing that if Iraqis don't want equal roles for men and women, their democracy is a sham.

Bush's attempt to introduce democracy to Iraq, and to expand the role of democracy in Egypt, Lebanon and Pakistan, is a brave and noble experiment. It might fail, and past historical experience is not promising. But if Bush succeeds we could see the beginning of an historical transformation no less significant than the transformation of the old Soviet Union. No wonder the left, not usually given to supplication, is praying very ardently this Christmas season that Bush does not succeed. If democracy fails, in Iraq and elsewhere, there is the added benefit that Democrats will have a better chance to take the White House in 2008.

Permalink
Email this
Linking Blogs
Comments [393]
Share this
- Add this post to...
- Netscape
- Digg
- Del.icio.us

Reader Comments ( Page 6 of 27)

Previous 15 Comments | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

76. Name any major conflict between Iraq and the Spanish American War that we started.
>>>

Clue: I don't think we "started" (loaded word) any 'major conflict.'

It's a wonder you didn't use the word 'blame' for any major conflict. Could it be you 'blame' the US for all the world ills? If not, it sure sounds like it. Seriously, could you provide a link to any post made by you or one of your comrades that points to any enemy that's not an American? I need a little help finding ONE.

Thomas J Gassett at 10:03PM on Dec 28th 2007

77. ATHEIST

Reply to: Anguished mourners weep at the grave site of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, Pakistan, Friday. "Benazir is alive," many chanted as her coffin was placed into the grave. (Photo caption. From AOL News home page, today.)

That's how the "resurrection" story started. People who said "Jesus... sorry, Benazir is alive"

This happens so frequently, you have to figure it into the equation.
______________

DINESH: So why does the left hate democracy in the Muslim world? The reason is simple. Muslim democracies are likely to be more

*** conservative socially ****

than they are when secular despots rule them. The left fears Muslim democracy because it is terrified of Muslim values, especially sharia or Muslim holy law. Feminists and gays are not likely to fare very well under Muslim holy law. Dinesh D'Souza
____________

That's NOT what the title of today's blog entry says.

Fearing for the rights of women under Muslim holy law.... is a separate issue from "democracy."

Latest news: Coroner's report says she died when the force of the explosion drove the right side of her head against the handle of her car's armored sunroof. No trace of bullets in her body.

When you're carrying enough explosive, I guess it doesn't matter what you're aiming at.

William Hays at 10:05PM on Dec 28th 2007

78. I suggest the following may have occurred. The original goal in Iraq was as originally stated...go in...find the WMDs...get rid of them...and get out. I don't believe there was a plan for democracy at all. It simply wasn't in the original game plan...Bush's dad had already successfully squashed Sadam before...Just go in and do it again. Then, no WMDs...and increasingly, the Bush Jr. administration had egg on its face...>>>

I suggest reality enter your thinking. You can't just imagine what gose on in someones mind to the exclusion of reality! You do know that ... right?

We went in to remove WMD. The only way to do that is to remove Saddam along with the weapons. It's called regime change, first made American policy during the Clinton administration.

Now, comes the reality. REGIME CHANGE: When you remove a GOVERNMENT you are required by international law to set up another one. Clue: We have been acting under a UN mandate for years in Iraq for that exact same purpose! Yet you make up and even believe it was all about Bush making up reasons to stay. Do you realize just how mind numblingly ignorant you really are?

SERIOUSLY, you children should concentrate on video games or cartoons, and leave the real world to those of us that actually live in it!

Thomas J Gassett at 10:16PM on Dec 28th 2007

79. Dinesh takes my writing wildly out of context. Yes, I wrote that Sunnis in Iraq were "tricked" into voting for Iraq's constitution. That is not a controversial statement. Here are the stubborn facts: the Sunnis were angry that the constitution was written by the Shia majority, to their distinct advantage. To gain their participation, the American embassy worked out an agreement that the constitution would be amended immediately after the elections for parliament. On that basis, the Sunnis canceled their boycott and took part in the constitutional vote (and, by the way, opposed it overwhelmingly). After the vote, the Shia just reneged on the deal, and to this day has refused to amend the flawed document.

Robert Dreyfuss at 10:16PM on Dec 28th 2007

80. "LIBERALS TURN TO COURTS TO CREATE 'RIGHTS' THAT NO ONE KNEW EXISTED..."

Yes...like Civil Rights.
Equal Rights.
Gay Rights.
Patient Rights.
Child Labor Laws
Minimum Wage Laws
The Right To Privacy
Equal Opportunity Rights
Human Rights
and Self-determination Rights

Freekin' liberal courts and their god-damned decisions! How dare they snatch the mantel of authority from fully armed rednecks like me!

Paul at 10:17PM on Dec 28th 2007

81. If Bush's 'democratic experiment in the middle east' succeeds, then I AM the queen of England.

Linda at 10:21PM on Dec 28th 2007

82. Chandler is highjacking the blog with Thomas Paine.

Normally I enjoy reading Paine, but it's probably more enjoyable when he is pertinent to the discussion.

Si?

Linda at 10:41PM on Dec 28th 2007

83. What, are you complaining about me agreeing with D'Souza now...

You say, "Instead of somehow just knowing he's wrong..."

I didn't say he(either one) was 'wrong'... I agreed with DD that Neo-cons are just like the Islamic Fundamentalists.

You've went and hurt my feelings now, Gassett... if I disagree with him, I'm "spewing" and if I AGREE with him, I'm just "spewing"...

>>>

Two points. I doubt he said 'just like' Most of us leave moral absoultes to godless liberal pukes ... like yourself.
2. Only a spew clown would equate Christains with Islamofascist. So, go ahead and have hurt feelings. Did you ever think maybe you deserve them, spewclown?

Thomas J Gassett at 10:42PM on Dec 28th 2007

84.

Do you pray to jesus with that mouth, gassett?

Or is it Mr. Coulter?

Linda at 11:09PM on Dec 28th 2007

85. It's a wonder you didn't use the word 'blame' for any major conflict. Could it be you 'blame' the US for all the world ills?

xxx

Gassett, what are you, a teletubby? Do they have one with a colander helmet? Go read what I said.

Before the devolution of american government beginning in 1980 and during my lifetime, this was the greatest nation in history!

ALL BLAME for our present corruption GOES TO NEOCON IMITATION OF UTOPIAN AND ENEMY POLITICAL PHILOSOPHIES.

This is from a nutcase criminal minority that stole the presidential elections and are hell bent on social experimentation.

The purpose of the party is profit and self perpetuation by any means possible.

EVERYTHING you pointed to in your earlier post regarding America's greatness was from the administrations of Roosevelt and Truman!

So-called 'liberal' democrats. New Deal democrats!

I blame chumps like YOU who capitulate to fascism and still go along with selling out to communists so you can hate gays or liberals or atheists or whatever your bogeymen are. Anything and anyone for a buck.

I blame neo hippie idealists like YOU and chickenshithawks who thought the Iraqis and Cheney would welcome us as liberators, throw flowers and we'd all sing Kumbaya. That's irresponsible fantasy!

Your party cuts and runs from wars, raises taxes, borrows from communists to give to billionaires, has bigger governments than democrats, undermines freedom and liberty, runs the national debt into the trillions and gives it all to billionaires, sows domestic discord, outsources jobs of returning war patriots to communists, disregards antitrust legislation, abolishes habeas corpus and the bill of rights, cedes eminent domain to anyone with the bucks, friend or foe, pollutes the environment, sells arms to enemies, opens the borders to mexico, dumbs down the school system to make testing profits, wages war on pretext for profit, fails to capture bin Laden, failed to be prepared for 911, was asleep at the wheel during katrina, uses the Attorney General's office for political vendetta, undermines the secret CIA Iranian weaponizations covert surveillance program for political vendetta, outsources our port security to a dubai corporation, attempts to merge church and state, goes to war without raising taxes but allows a dubai corporation to profit via no bid cost plus contracts, kills 644,000 Iraqi citizens in two years, eliminates Al Qaeda's greatest middle eastern enemy on our childrens' money borrowed from communists, cages elections, ignores veterans, exploits the military, ignores congressional subpoenas, loses billions in Iraq, initiates twice as many signing statements as all other presidents combined and covers up for financial and homosexual scandals in congress.

There's lots more.

hat's just the stuff covered ad nauseaum by every network and cable television channel, every newspaper, every radio talk show and as many blogsites as you want to try to find day in and day out for the past six years.

Give you a link? Use that scheissenschnitzel you call a brain!

This is not America's fault.

This is the fault of the 7% or so of christians that are dominionists or sympathizers and the 20% or so extreme reactionary types, the types that created what Ron Paul calls 'soft fascism', those dittoheads and foxfart sniffers that still approve of the Bush crime family's regime.

And the traitors who stole the elections and wiped their asses on freedom and democracy.

Our country has been hijacked by a very small number of social experimentalists who call themselves neoconservative, but they are neither.

I think thirty years of social experimentation is more than enough, and I want government back into a more moderate model that's big enough and responsible enough to defend us, protect us from predatory financial practices domestically and keep the store running.

Clif Kuplen at 11:35PM on Dec 28th 2007

86. Here we go again with the usual suspects spouting the same old nonsense: Hey Cliff. Gore lost. Kerry lost. And there is no proof that Bush stole Florida. If there was, Jesse Jackson would have already produced it.

And you lefties conveniently ignore Gore's selective recounts in Democrat strongholds in Florida, as well as fraudulent manual vote-counting, along with tens of thousands of Republican votes probably lost in the panhandle. Oh, and then there's coercion with union thugs giving workers rides to the polls and helpfully suggesting they vote Democrat. Nice people.

And don't forget tens of thousands of duplicate votes and untold shenanigans in more Democrat strong holds like St. Louis. And this entire discussion would have been irrelevant if Gore could have only won his home state.

And if you guys hadn't picked somebody who was trying to buy the White House with war medals, Bush might have really lost in 04. (McCain could have told Kerry that routine wasn't going to work.) Honestly Cliff, give it up. It's over.

PBO -Your whopper about how only atheism produces Democracy is demonstrably false. Atheism in government usually produces mayhem and carnage. Ask the surviving family members of the people who are being starved and tortured and purged and sent to gulags by the millions in countries like China, Russia, Cuba, Cambodia and North Korea.

Tell those people about the virtues of atheism. I don't think they're buying it. The "workers paradise" is greatly overrated.

Dave at 11:39PM on Dec 28th 2007

87. 86. Here we go again with the usual suspects spouting the same old nonsense: Hey Cliff. Gore lost. Kerry lost. And there is no proof that Bush stole Florida.

xxxx

You're a liar too. the recounts showed gore won. Ohio was caged. Goodling said so under oath.

You're a liar. There's no other way to put it. Gore won and Kerry won and this is an unlawful administration. Your post very strongly suggests you actually know this.

It will never be over any more than your attempt to shift blame for 911. It's 100% the fault of the unlawful bush administration who stole the election.

The recounts showed Gore won. The smoke you're blowing was as you admitted (go read - you did) speculation and in no way evidentiary.

If we forget it will happen again. It galls me to think the republican party has become so corrupt that this just doesn't matter to them. Stealing an elecition is just as good as winning.

You've had thirty years of payoff. We're in many ways a third world country now - we're dumber and sicker and live shorter more miserable lives under the last thirty years of conservofascism - what Ron Paul called soft Fascism last week.

Under democrats this was a strong country. Under Eisenhower republicans who respected the new deal, it was also strong.

Now we can't catch a single renegade terrorist with all our resources in more time than it took the democrats to defeat Hitler and Tojo and Mussolini.

This administration ain't worth a pitcher o' warm spit.

Clif Kuplen at 11:55PM on Dec 28th 2007

88. Chandler (at post 86):

You're a mother fucking idiot.

kulari94 at 11:56PM on Dec 28th 2007

89. "Oh, and then there's coercion with union thugs giving workers rides to the polls and helpfully suggesting they vote Democrat. Nice people."
------------------------------------------
You asshole, dave. That's been a part of politics since there were political parties. ON BOTH SIDES.

What a dipshit.

-----------------------------------
Hey Kulari. Do you pray to jesus with that mouth?

Linda at 12:12AM on Dec 29th 2007

90. To Paul at 79, who said:

" 'LIBERALS TURN TO COURTS TO CREATE 'RIGHTS' THAT NO ONE KNEW EXISTED...'

Yes...like Civil Rights.
Equal Rights.
Gay Rights.
Patient Rights.
Child Labor Laws
Minimum Wage Laws
The Right To Privacy
Equal Opportunity Rights
Human Rights
and Self-determination Rights

Freekin' liberal courts and their god-damned decisions! How dare they snatch the mantel of authority from fully armed rednecks like me!"

Paul:

If your rights are so precious, why don't you and your fellow liberals elect politicians to protect them? You're validating DD's point - which is that liberals are result oriented. They don't care about democracy or the constitution if they secure the rights identified in Paul's precious little list. I wouldn't be surprised if liberals were fine with a benevolent dictator who would protect the rights liberals deemed worth protecting.

kulari94 at 12:29AM on Dec 29th 2007

Previous 15 Comments | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags.

Mo's Video

The Sound of a Smoke-Free Barack...
Almost two years ago we speculated on how Barack Obama's voice would change if he stopped smoking. ...

Coming Soon

Most Commented On

Coming Soon

Mo's Bio

Mo Rocca appears on a bunch of shows, including CBS News Sunday Morning (with the indescribably wonderful Charles Osgood), The Tonight Show on NBC, and NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! He's a sometime judge on Iron Chef and was featured on Telemundo's Amore Descarado. Last year he starred on Broadway in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. His expose "All the President's Pets" was published by Crown in 2004.