A Real Pain in the Ham-ass

Sorry- I couldn't resist a cheezy title to this post, and I actually want to discuss how Hamas' recent victory in the Palestinian Elections might not be such the worst thig ever. First, let me just say this- Hamas are a bunch of freaks and I am completely opposed to thir call for the destruction of Israel. So why is their election a good thing? I think it is good because there is no better way to discredit bad ideas in the eyes of people than actually living under rule by those bad ideas. Look at communism for example. Before the Russian Revolution, many people in Russia and Eastern Europe were drawn to the ideas of communism because they did not know what exactly living under it would be like. Once they actually got to live under communism, they realized how much it sicked and eventually overthrew the USSR. The same phenominon explains the current differences between Iran and Iraq. In Iraq, islamist shiite parties got the pluarlity of the parliamentary votes. People in Iraq are inytrigued with radical islam because it was so supressed under Saddam's rule and never got to experience actually living under it. Contrast with Afghanistan, where everyone still remembers how crappy life was under the Taliban, and the only people advocating a return to that are, well, the Taliban themselves. So my point is that perhaps letting the Palestinians experience what radical islam is actually like, with its human-rights abuses, inferior treatment of women, and incompetence at governing is a good thing, because sooner or later, they will throw the bums out and eventually there will be an elected, moderate, secular Palestinian government and the tide of radicalism will recede. Of course, a lot of this depends on Hamas continuing to respect the democratic process once it is in power, but if it does, I think a good future will occur sometime down the road.

Comments welcome.