Al Jazeera Discovers 'Chaotic Elections' Only Abroad
Al Jazeera's exposé on Tanzania's election chaos (read: government-orchestrated suppression of political dissent) highlights police firing shots and tear gas at protesters. How quaint. Yet, when US politicians use the legal system to disqualify political opponents—or quietly pass legislation making it harder to vote—the outrage is distinctly muted. One might wonder if 'democracy' is only genuinely
threatened when it happens in nations without significant, strategic oil reserves or military bases for the West. We applaud Al Jazeera for their acute observation of police brutality and electoral malfeasance – when it occurs in Dar-es-Salaam. Perhaps next, they'll tackle how 'chaotic elections' and repression look when US-backed regimes engage in similar antics, or when hundreds of thousands of
voters are simply struck from the rolls right here. Or is that just 'normal procedure'?