A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics
|
|
|
A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics | |
|
September 19, 2006Thai coup (v2)I was going to blog about the important ongoing blogger breast situation. But that's been upstaged by events. There's been a coup in Thailand. Importantly, Thai Commander-in-Chief Sondhi has apparently been at least partially endorsed by Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej as Interim PM. The game for a coup is to get a king's support, or it's out, so apparently all coup supporters bear yellow ribbons, which are a sign of support for the monarchy in Thailand. Coups seem to be all too frequent in Thailand; the Profesora was caught in one several years ago. I think she said all that happened to visitors was a length airport shutdown. How well are the people being served if the army is always finding excuses to choose governments? Several blogs are providing good coverage. They include Bangkok Pundit, Metroblog Bangkok Newley Purnell, and purpose-created 19SEP (check out today's date!). I hope Prime Minister Thaksin can put down the coup. This is the second version of this post. The first version had far fewer details and especially fewer links. UPDATE: News about the King's endorsement is as yet unconfirmed by local blogs, so take that one with some salt. UPDATE 2: Robert Mayer wrote:
UPDATE 3: The big excuse against Thaksin appears to be his corruption (which is real). Well, military governments are far more corrupt, generally, than democratic ones. Corruption is definitely up in Pakistan since its coup; the excuse was - shock - corruption. Supporting a coup because of corruption is shooting your foot to spite your face. The voters have to judge on his corruption. The US government is corrupt, too. A huge percentage of homeland security and military spending go to the guys with the best lobbyists. Over time, the dynamics of democracy tend to reduce corruption, but it takes patience at the ballot box, and it never goes away. Posted by Jon Kay at September 19, 2006 10:01 PMComments
I find it very disturbing that the Thai military thinks it's appropriate to overthrow an elected government--and one that was overwhelmingly elected. It seems as if the urban elites brought this about even though Thaksin was very popular in the countryside. Thaksin is far from a model democrat, but how likely is it that the military will (1) relinquish power in the first place, and (2) not become the constant power behind the throne for every government from now on. Posted by: Marc at September 20, 2006 01:00 PMThe PM threw an "instant election" last April, which the opposition parties boycotted. (Indeed, they hardly had time to draw up a slate, much less participate.) That's why the margins were so lopsided--it was vote TRT or cast a "No Vote." (The No's got almost 40%!) The April 2 election of the House was thrown out by the courts and a new election scheduled for next month. It's a sordid story and I'm sure we don't know half of it. ALL governments are corrupt to one degree or another. Nature of the best. Posted by: Tully at September 20, 2006 02:12 PMThe US government is corrupt, too. A huge percentage of homeland security and military spending go to the guys with the best lobbyists.John, is it really fair to compare our level of corruption with countries such as Thailand. Also, are you suggesting that lobbying=corruption? Posted by: c3 at September 20, 2006 03:14 PM > John, is it really fair to compare our level of corruption Why not? For better and worse, similar kinds of comparisons gain the US new immigrants, investment, etc., all the time. ;=) But I wasn't trying to say we're AS corrupt. Just that we have it, too. > are you suggesting that lobbying=corruption? By no means. Just that the government has a way of spending too much money on things, and that too much money has a way of going to the well-linked rather than the best value for money. That is corruption, even if it's inevitable. Posted by: Jon Kay at September 21, 2006 01:57 AM |
Archives
March 2007
February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003
Recent Entries
Some Smart Surging
Democratic Disgrace Obama: Tastes Great or Less Filling Should United States Attorneys be Professionalized? Don't you dare change your mind! Erin Go Open Thread NCAA tournament thread Blog that Brouhaha to death, AMIIGAF! Why Communism Grew Big: WWI Mythology Part 1 of 3 (LONG) The Right Immigration Questions
|
