[xoxoxoBruce]

Bush Says Paralysis of Iraqi Government a Sign of Democracy
The president hails partisan wrangling and inaction.

April 4, 2006 - President George W. Bush said that the infighting and partisan wrangling that have brought the Iraqi government to a standstill are "signs that true democracy has taken root in Iraq."

At a White House briefing, Bush said the fact that the newly formed government of Iraq is in the grip of paralysis shows that American-style democracy can be successfully exported to a Middle Eastern nation. "It took the United States government hundreds of years to attain the level of inactivity we currently enjoy," Bush told reporters. "The Iraqi people have achieved that in just a matter of months."

While Bush praised the Iraqis for establishing such key democratic institutions as partisan squabbling and gridlock, he cautioned that much work needs to be done before Iraq can be considered a true democracy. "Iraq still has not had a major campaign fundraising scandal," he noted.

He said that key elements of a democracy, such as indicted lawmakers and disgraced lobbyists, were still largely missing from Iraq's political landscape and need to take root there. In order to kick-start those democratic institutions, Bush said he was sending Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex) to Iraq to teach Iraqi legislators how to become indicted and disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff to teach Iraqi lobbyists how to disgrace themselves.

"Only when Iraq has its own disgraced lobbyists and a president who denies ever knowing them can it be considered a truly democratic nation," Mr. Bush said.