The US is Declining

[bemildred]

Interview with Richard Alarcon (Vice President of Cuba
and President of it's national assembly.)

Landau: Anything positive about the U.S. election?

Alarcon: The most beautiful thing, somewhat missed in the media, happened in Puerto Rico. A U.S. territory under U.S. administration had the old fashioned vote, where you mark what you want to mark. It's possible to count and recount once, twice endlessly and assure that whoever gets more votes wins. In the U.S., you cannot do that in many places. So, while the U.S. media focused on Iraqi elections and ignored voting complaints by African Americans, the Puerto Ricans were recounting their ballots, one by one. They get exact results in polling station by polling station, municipality by municipality. They saw who won and who lost. In the U.S. a kind of monarchial principal reigns, as if the candidate was the owner of the people's will. Supposedly, one candidate concedes to demonstrate that his opponent won. Recall how Mr. Gore conceded in 2000? So what? Was he the owner of the people's votes? In the U.S. it's a far cry from one man one vote. And the winner is not necessarily the one who gets more votes as the 2000 election showed.

Landau: How would fair elections in Iraq look?

Alarcon: Why don't U.S. soldiers vote? Hold a referendum for American soldiers to choose between staying there for the rest of their lives for democracy and freedom, American style, or returning home. It's a relevant issue.

CounterPunch

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