democracy at work.

Submitted by Mohammed Waza Khiddif Id'ullah (Australia), Aug 7, 2015 at 05:46

"...I just sent off an email to my congressman, protesting Obama's support for the massacre of the Kurds by his Turkish allies. That's my privilege, as an American. Down under, I imagine the only effective protests one can make are against a football call, or against an inane remark by a politician. "

??? Australia is a democracy - maybe more similar to Canada's than your own. We can fling emails or write letters to or go and see personally our local member of Parliament if we wanted to - about anything at all. That's what they're there for . Public service. Otherwise - what would be the point of having them? Or having a democracy for that matter. If enough people carp on about the same thing - the parliamentarian will bring it up directly in Canberra (if it's federal issue) - and hopefully things will get done. The system works reasonably well. The iternet and the pervasieness of media these days are a big help - politicians can't get away with too much BS these days.

"Still, you're in a nice place -- I especially like your flag."

Yes - a great little sandbar to be on. Far enough away from the rest of the world to make all its problems seem like none of our business. Flag is OK - except we left behind being an extension of Britain a long, long time ago. But the Union Jack remains as testament to our heritage - and all things considered, it's not a bad heritage to have.

"...You diggers do well, to keep out of this mess...Oops -- I see you're already in it, up to your ears."

Yes - and have been for nearly a year now - 6 f18's up there bombing the crap out of ISIS as they find them. The turning point came when those yazidis were caught on that mountain and were going to be slaughtered. There was a palpable mood that no one (except some local muslims) could sit back and do nothing about it - so the PM made the call to do something practical. I'm pissed off that Russia is doing nothing. They're virtually right next door and certainly have the means to make an impact.

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