An American Spring

I recall the African leader of a new democracy some years back who locked up all of the opposition and when questioned by the media as to his motives, he basically said that he didn't see any sense in paying the opposition to to argue with his brilliant ideas.
That's one take on democracy!

Then you have the Italian parliamentarians who get so impassioned, they revert to fisticuffs.
At least they feel strongly about it.

We see passion too in the Arab spring where people put their very lives on the line, to do away with dictatorships in their longing for freedom and the opportunity to take some ownership and control over their future.

Remember NEDA, that beautiful young woman who was shot in the streets of Tehran and her blood-spattered body was held in her father's arms, as she died.  

One wonders how the Iraqis and Afghans view the blueprint of democracy, that they've inherited, when they see how ineffective it appears to be right now in the United States, the so called 'beacon' of democracy.

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