HASN'T HE HEARD THAT HIS BETTERS HAVE DECIDED THAT....

Bush to press Arab leaders on democracy and peace (Sheryl Gay Stolberg, May 18, 2008, NY Times)

After a showy celebration of America's close ties with Israel, President George W. Bush was presenting Arab leaders with a lengthy to-do list on Sunday, telling them that if Middle East peace is to become a reality, they must expand their economies, offer equal opportunity to women and embrace democracy. [...]

[I]n a speech to be delivered Sunday afternoon to the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, a gathering of world leaders, diplomats and business executives, Bush seemed to chide as much as reassure.

"Too often in the Middle East, politics has consisted of one leader in power and the opposition in jail," Bush said in remarks prepared for delivery and released by the White House, adding, "The time has come for nations across the Middle East to abandon these practices, and treat their people with the dignity and respect they deserve."

...brown peoples don't want to govern themselves?

MORE:
Hezbollah Emerges in Forefront of Power in Lebanon: Recent Show of Force Carries Shiite Group To Forefront of Power (Anthony Shadid, 5/18/08, Washington Post)

[I]n the span of just eight days, some of the most tumultuous since the end of the civil war in 1990, the Shiite Muslim movement has refigured, both through its own actions and the repercussions that ensued, the arithmetic of politics in a country once hailed as a centerpiece of the Bush administration's now-tattered vision of a new Middle East.

Hezbollah today stands unquestioned as the single most powerful force in Lebanon. By routing government-allied militiamen in hours last week, as the army stood by, it proved it can occupy Beirut at will. Its show of strength forced the government into a humiliating retreat from decisions that targeted the group. And the group itself has ensured that the independence of its sprawling military, political and social infrastructure -- deemed a state within a state by its opponents -- will remain untouched for the foreseeable future.

The Shi'ite demand for political power commensurate with its numbers is the President's message, even if he's not reconciled to it yet.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 18, 2008 7:19 AM