by Naomi Klein

The Nation

02/14/05

'The Iraqi people gave America the biggest 'thank you' in the best way we could have hoped for.' Reading this election analysis from Betsy Hart, a columnist for the Scripps Howard News Service, I found myself thinking about my late grandmother. Half blind and a menace behind the wheel of her Chevrolet, she adamantly refused to surrender her car keys. She was convinced that everywhere she drove (flattening the house pets of Philadelphia along the way) people were waving and smiling at her. 'They are so friendly!' We had to break the bad news. 'They aren't waving with their whole hand, Grandma -- just with their middle finger.'

So it is with Betsy Hart and the other near-sighted election observers: They think the Iraqi people have finally sent America those long-awaited flowers and candies, when Iraq's voters just gave them the (purple) finger...

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050228&s=klein


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp