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  • World Shut Your Mouth

       September 27, 2004

    The lyrics of Julian Cope are suddenly very appropriate:

    She sings world shut your mouth
    Shut you mouth
    Put your head back in the clouds
    And shut your mouth

    Why? Red Line Rants links to a simply amazing article from last week's Guardian. Jonathan Freedland thinks that the world should be able to vote in America's Presidential election. WTF? Is he high? Well, probably, but his actual "reason" is that since America has the ability to affect the rest of the world the rest of the world should have a say in electing our President.

    It may sound wacky, but the idea could not be more American. After all, the country was founded on the notion that human beings must have a say in the decisions that govern their lives. The rebels' slogan of "No taxation without representation" endures two centuries later because it speaks about something larger than the narrow business of raising taxes. It says that those who pay for a government's actions must have a right to choose the government that takes them.

    Now, I know that Mr. Freedland probably wrote this article to piss off Americans like me and I shouldn't take the bait. But, you know, it's a Monday. In any case, he misses the point of his quote. First, "no taxation without representation". Is the rest of the world taxed by America? Nope. Instead Americans give billions to other nations. So, is he proposing that the rest of the world pay taxes with the money going into American's coffers? Or, does he think the citizens of Europe, for example, should be able to vote in our elections and still not pay taxes? Hmm, somehow I do think that "representation with no taxation" could be more American. I'm just saying...

    Freedland somehow thinks that the rest of the world needs to give their consent to be governed by America. Perhaps I'm missing something, but is America governing the EU? Or Japan? Or even Iraq? No, we're not. Unlike Europeans and their precious Union, we actually still believe in the concept of sovereignty.

    Euroweenies like Freedland are ticked off by two things. First, that America is far more powerful than their shriveled empires. Second, that we persist in electing leaders that put America first, rather than bowing to their European betters.

    As Tyler from Red Line Rants put it, "You want to vote in an American election? Simple. Move to America. We'd love to have you. We'll have some extra room too once all of the celebrities and DU'ers clear out after November... "



    Posted by kris at September 27, 2004 11:01 AM

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    Comments

    #  March 7th, 2005 6:48 PM      Converted_Comment
    Converted comment: Posted by: John Tant at September 27, 2004 01:35 PM

    I say to those Euros who want to vote in our elections they should first show their sincerity and open up THEIR elections for world participation. We'll see how well it works for them before we try it out.

     
     
    #  March 7th, 2005 6:48 PM      Converted_Comment
    Converted comment: Posted by: Lance at September 28, 2004 10:13 AM

    I posted a little about this over at Grandpa John and got some interesting comments from a guy in New Zealand. He knows it will never happen, but he's real sympathetic to the idea.

     
     
    #  June 22nd, 2005 9:55 AM      HRC2008
     
     
    #  June 22nd, 2005 9:57 AM      HRC2008
    the irony of some right-wing moron quoting Julian Cope is laughable... obviously, you know *nothing* about Mr. Cope's politics and world view.......  
     
    #  June 22nd, 2005 10:04 AM      kris
    Cope is, I suspect, a liberal, but who cares. He's put his art out there and I'm free to use it as I please.  
     

     

     


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