This has been a running joke for so many years now, but they’re still doing it. What will it take for these despots to realize that such “elections” do nothing to legitimize their regimes — on the contrary, actually make them look worse?! :rolleyes:
What are they thinking? The mindset at work here is just so opposite to the way my mind works. Instead of proving that the populace really wants the dictator, it only shows how scared and intimidated they are. If anyone really bothers to even count the votes, that is!
The weird thing about it is the disconnect between what elections are supposed to be—the will of the people—and what these 99.9% votes actually reveal: the contrary. I mean, what’s the point?
Now this year, Saddam was not content to claim the usual 99.9% of the vote in his “re-election.” No, he had to get a full 100%, as if that makes him look any better. I just can’t get over how idiotic and pointless the whole sham is. One of these days, I swear, someone will claim they got 101%, and I won’t be surprised.
Well, they have the idea that elections are democratic, and, in the world community, being democratic is seen as a good thing. You know, “How dare country X says we are a dictatorship? I am a servant of the people, and president because of the people’s will, and the people have shown this by all coming out and voting for me!”
Wasn’t that 100% figure intentionally engineered to be a Dubya slam? The Iraqi VP was quoted saying something along the lines of “What’s the difference between our election and the Americans stealing an election with lawyers?”. I don’t think there was ever any pretense about it being a ligit electoral process.
Actually, I don’t think it belongs to the Pit, because I’ve often been wondering the same. As a dictator, I suppose I could want to show I get a very wide support, so I could make it, say, 75%…But 99%, I don’t get the point. I don’t think it’s a message sent to other countries, since these countries know the elections are faked. On the other hand, I assume that the locals know it too.
Or perhaps when you engineer correctly the vote (anyway, there’s no other candidate), with a lot of propaganda, and fear, not much secrecy of the vote and whatnot, perhaps there are actually 99% of people voting “yes”.
For what it’s worth, now and then I see American politicians trying to sell the public on totally ridiculous concepts. And some people seem to swallow them.
Never underestimate the ability of people to fool themselves.
Who do they think they’re kidding? The same people who, when they see a man with a part half an inch above his ear, think he’s really got a full head of hair
It’s not an election, even though it uses the mechanism of democracy. It’s a decleration of fealty. The leader expects a 100% vote ecause he expects 100% loyalty from his subjects.
Think of it as a public pledge of alleigence; after all, in a dictatorship, the state and the leader are one and the same.
I think that it is a little bit of an intellectural hiccup - dictators tend to be rather big on control issues (duh!) and like in 1984, will rewrite history if necessary. What is the alternative? Free elections - where they might lose? Nope, sorry. Free elections where they might actually win, but have a large minority opposed to them? Nope, remember - everyone loves Big Brother. This opposition might spread. The people really don’t know what is best for them, other than worshipping me. Win with a small minority opposed - same thing, just a matter of degree. I know - win with a 99.9% majority - after all, there is always some random nut or hanging chad somewhere. That is what the people would really want if they could figure it out in their little thick heads after all. That makes sense, fits the dictators view of the world as it should be, and if history is based on official dictator government records, they will show him as a wonderful leader beloved of his population. I also think that in their minds, people like the Mullahs in Iran and Saddam think that the US elections are rigged completely, and that all this nonsense about Florida and the Supreme Court, midterm elections and so on are just a show - and in their minds, poorly done at that.
Americans feel so smug about their ability to go around denouncing their political leaders with impunity. They can so so because that’s not where the power lies.
Try going into work someday and openly denounce the incompetence or tyranical nature of your boss or his boss. Better yet, put out a newsheet with satirical cartoons of the corporate management engaged in insestuous sexual relationships. Solicit signed articles from your fellow workers. See how many are willing. See how many will agree while speaking in hushed tones in private but will desert you when the hammer falls, as it surely will.
After this experience, you will know what dictatorship and terror are.
Yeah. If they were smart, they’d actually form two minimallydifferentiated parties, and then get them consistently elected with a combined total of 96% of the vote. The fact that there are two parties with two separate leaders should obfuscate the fact that more or less the same small circle of people support and benefit from the regime regardless of who actually wins the election.
If The Onion doesn’t make an article along those lines, they’re missing a golden opportunity.