if Henry Hyde, as Human Events asserts, is right.Some quotes:
His critique of this “Golden Theory” suggests a foreign-policy principle that echoes an ancient principle of medicine: First, do no harm.
“We can and have used democracy as a weapon to destabilize our enemies and we may do so again,” said Hyde. “But if we unleash revolutionary forces in the expectation that the result can only be beneficent, I believe we are making a profound and perhaps uncorrectable mistake. History teaches that revolutions are very dangerous things, more often destructive than benign, and uncontrollable by their very nature. Upending established order based on a theory is far more likely to produce chaos than shining uplands.......
It may, in fact, constitute an uncontrollable experiment with an outcome akin to that faced by the Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” said Hyde, referring to the boy whose ill-considered magic made a mess of his master’s house.
So, let me get this straight. Freedom is not a good thing for everyone. Some people aren't smart enough to be free or make decisions, is that it? That is the assertions that seem to be made by Mr. Hyde and Mr. Terrence Jeffery, the author of this glowing praise of Mr. Hyde. So, what you are saying, is that revolutions are too dangerous to support, and that unleashing freedom is a bad thing because it may not lead to a nation that is fully in line with you. Better to leave a benevolent tyrant in power who will negotiate but create animosity among the people of a nation. Umm...Terrence, um...Harry? I think you should ask these guys what they would have thought: John Adams, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, Thomas Paine, Pat Henry. Remember them?
The notion that the President is wanting to step into every country's business and force democracy down their throats is both absurd and a simpleton view to take. What we are talking about is showing people that there is a better way, that in a true democracy, you don't have the rampant political violence we see in the MidEast and other regions. In a true democracy with open and free elections, you don't see the kind of bloodletting going on.
And, no one in this administration said it would always be easy. However, look at the nations we have helped "democratize." Japan, Germany, to some extent. These nations are now bulwarks for freedom and trade. The people there are better off under a free system than the one they had before. Did it happen overnight? No, but is it the right thing to do? Yes!
For people to say we should still hang with benevolent dictators just because they may be "easier to deal with" than free societies is both hypocritical and not cognizant of history. Look at what we are dealing with in the MidEast. Much of the hatred comes from the fact that we as the ramparts of freedom, have not advocated for freedom and have dealt too chummy with the dictators of the region.
Mr. Jeffery, Mr. Hyde, kindly buy a clue.
