What if our democracy involved representation by religious/ethnic groups?

[undeterred]

Isn't this what we've set up in Iraq?

[yourout]

1. It already does......it's just not the face they present.

[undeterred]

2. What if we required numbers of men, women, blacks, hispanics

according to the population that we have as well as by religion. I think everything would come out much farther to the left. I'm not suggesting it, I just think its weird that a 21st century Democracy anywhere is being established like this.

[EST]

3. I guess ya' gotta work with the public you have, not the one

you want...or something like that.

[BlooInBloo]

4. What not weird or surprising in the least is that white folks continue to believe....

... that ethnicity is a relevant way of segmenting peoples' views. Another fine example is the undying shock of white folks to discover that not all black folks have the same views.

[undeterred]

6. like the surprise that not all blacks are in love with Obama!

I lived in Chicago when Obama ran for Congress from my district- he lost in the primary to Bobby Rush but there were two other black men running. I met his wife in front of the grocery store in Hyde Park. I suspect Obama was most popular in the areas with the most white people!

In Iraq we are replacing a secular government with one drawn along religious/ethnic lines. The result has not been peaceful establishment of Democracy, but unleashing violence between these groups against each other. It was a really bad idea.

[Selatius]

5. You would end up like Lebanon.

Their civil war was brought about by demographic realities. The Maronite Christians were no longer the majority, and the last census was taken in 1932 or somewhere close to there. Muslims, both Shia and Sunni, wanted them to hold a new census, which they refused to do. This laid the groundwork for their bloody civil war.