Aspiring democracies look to the U.S. as a role model, but the shutdown makes us look silly

[DonViejo]

The GOP’s Tantrum Is Bad for America’s Credibility

Aspiring democracies look to the U.S. as a role model, but the shutdown makes us look silly

By Anne Applebaum

WARSAW—Over the past 20 years, I’ve spent a lot of time in countries that are not democracies but would like to be. First in Central Europe and the former Soviet Union, more recently in North Africa, I’ve met many, many people who are trying to figure out how to translate that elusive, almost mystical concept, “the will of the people,” into the practical matters of government: taxation, public spending, defense, law and order, garbage collection. Over and over again, I’ve watched them construct institutions designed to make possible that translation from the mystical into the practical: parliaments, presidencies, court systems. Sooner or later, they all learn that the act of voting is a necessary but insufficient component of democracy. Without legitimate representative and executive institutions—institutions that can translate the “will of the people” into concrete policies—democracy always fails.

From my perch overseas, I’ve been watching the run-up to the government shutdown in Washington for several weeks now, and at times I have tried to explain it to bemused foreigners. Many of them think, mistakenly, that Americans are having an argument about the budget, or about the deficit. I have to put them straight: No, in fact this is an attempt by one part of the U.S .political system to stop the implementation of a single law, the Affordable Care Act—Obamacare—and to use the budgetary process in order to do so. If my interlocutors come from democratic countries, they then look puzzled.

If they read the commentary pouring out of Washington they are even more confused, as am I. What surprises me—shocks me—are the many people who have written, blogged or self-righteously tweeted about the results of various opinion polls on these events, as if they mattered. Do 47 percent of Americans oppose Obamacare? Do 73.7 percent oppose Obamacare? Do 97 percent of Republicans hate Obamacare even more than they hate death and taxes? Who cares? In a functioning democracy, it doesn’t matter what the majority happen to think at any given moment. What matters is what the legitimate, representative, legal institutions have already decided.

I am not an expert on the economics of health care, and therefore I really don’t know whether Obamacare is ultimately going to be good or bad for America. I am very glad that it will help the poor and the uninsured get access to doctors, hospitals, and medicine. I’m very worried that it may be too expensive and will further extend U.S. indebtedness. But I also recognize that at this point, what I think doesn’t really matter. The Affordable Care Act passed both houses of Congress. It was signed into law by the president. It was confirmed by the Supreme Court. The president who originally sponsored the health care reform was then sent back to the White House following an election during which that reform was a major topic of debate.

full article
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2013/10/_government_shutdown_the_view_from_overseas_does_not_favor_the_gop.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content

[gopiscrap]

1. Ever since shrub got into office

we have looked silly (except for the 2 years Obama had the House and the Senate)