The world watches the US political scene rather closely, and this week is no exception. From my limited understanding we are possibly looking at an election result that will shift the balance of power in the congress to the Democrats from the Republicans. Having the other majority party controlling the purse-strings can only be a good thing for the country, as this puts a "check and balance" on the laws being passed. Whilst it does restrict the governing party from passing laws and getting things done, it does limit the governing party pushing through anything that takes their whim at this point in time.
We have much the same situation here in Oz, where as the "Liberal" party (read: ultra conservative) are governing with a majority in the house of representatives and the senate. This enables them to push through any old guff, usually at a midnight sitting when no one else is looking. Laws touted as good for the country, but it is usually found out years down the track their private businesses made bucketloads of money out of the arrangement. The
company providing the logistics for the Iraq troop support is a prime example in the US. Conflict of interest, or is it a case of being in the right place at the right time?
Having a shift in power in the US congress could mean a number of things to Australia, with one noticed in the reports yesterday being about
Australian corporate involvement in the lead up to the Iraq war. This could be bothersome to the Howard government considering the timing.
edit: The
verdict on Saddam Hussein has come in. Interestingly four days before it should have been announced. It seems rather convenient this be
announced before the US election rather than after.
edit2: Have a look at
this youtube video to see what the US administration think of their little war and the announcement GWB staged when it was
"all over". Now GWB has
announced Iraq was all about the oil... like that was news to anyone with half a brain? What's the next excuse?
