Good morning, Netizens...

In one of David Horsey's pointed cartoons this morning, we have an Iraqi official warbling on and on about Democracy like a jaybird with its balls in an electric fence out behind the Virtual Ballroom. Meanwhile the American diplomat tells the Iraqi what parts of a true democracy he still needs before he and his country can embrace democracy. Special interest money?

There are a lot more elements that Iraq needs to acquire for its fledgling democracy before it is even narrowly complete.

Lobbyists As Barack Obama is perhaps finding out on his own, our own imperfect democracy, such as it is, depends upon key people whose job it is to steer government money into the coffers of their clients without really appearing to do so. Once upon a time lobbyists were a major factor in previous administrations, such as the Bush regime but, depending upon where you hear it, that may be changing as President Obama has publicly stated lobbyists will not be allowed to serve on committees, sub-committees or in his cabinet. However, Iraq, still in the infancy of developing its own variant of democracy, will unquestionably hire lobbyists so they know where to spend all their oil money.

Financial Consultants Nobody I have read has truly expounded on just how the balance of payments between Iraq and the United States is supposed to work out. Let's see here, it would be a few billion for the war effort they owe us, and a few billion for the damage done to some of the most-ancient sites in the Tigris-Euphrates Valley. Of course, neither side would agree on who should pay, which is where a team of exorbitantly-paid consultants will need to be brought online.

Lawyers Nobody does much of anything these days without a legal eagle, do they? Of course, since these would have to know both Islamic and United States laws, perhaps they might even need entire teams of each kind.

Do you have any other parts of true democracy that the Iraqi government will need on their path to democracy?

Dave

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