More for the “context is everything” crowd…
“The only democracy that has emerged when you see uprising like this, is in Iraq. Name me one other example. I can’t think of one in history.”
I thought the whole O’Reilly “explain the tides” thing was the dumbest thing I was going to read for quite some time, but then this little gem just falls out of the sky and says “I am stupid. Hear me roar.” Where do I begin with what is wrong with his question?
First, we’ll start with the list of countries that became democracies after violent revolutions:
- The first and most obvious choice… the United States, which Hannity would have known if he had just looked to his faux-patriotic lapel for help.
- India (just because the Indians… some of them anyway… were non-violent doesn’t mean the British were.)
- The Czech Republic
- Poland
- France
Second, let’s examine what Hannity calls the Iraqi “uprising.” If I remember correctly, democracy was imposed from the top down in Iraq, not from the bottom up. The graphic below illustrates this quite nicely.
Third, anything Hannity (or any other FOX News talking head) bloviates about should be taken with a truckload of salt, as the chances of it being factually accurate are minimal at best.
