By Victor Davis Hanson
“Unexpected. Terrible. Inevitable. Everyone has a particular take on the dramatic Palestinian election victory of Hamas.
Right-wing cynics of American support for Middle East democracy say that we got our just desserts for our naive idealism. How foolish to ever believe that such tribal people might vote themselves a responsible government!
“Be careful what you wish for,” smug leftists chime in. But they harp that the Bush administration is hypocritical in lamenting the results. After all, how can the United States advocate democracy and then back away when it doesn’t get pro-Americans?
Others hedge that the Hamas victory hardly means consensual government as we know it — given the Palestinians’ lack of an independent judiciary, free speech or habeas corpus.”
Read the whole thing, excellent as always.
Jenny Hatch