Democracy is Messy, So Don't Be Surprised

My ongoing favorite columnist Tom Friedman has some good advice for Americans as we move toward the chaotic period preceding elections in Iraq: chaos is normal.

What I worry about most right now - after a week in the Persian Gulf - is that we have entered a really complex, arabesque phase in Iraq. It requires enormous understanding of the complexities of Iraqi and Arab politics and the ability to produce outcomes not by the traditional, straightforward U.S. approach, but by the more subtle, bazaar-oriented politics in that part of the world.

Remember, democracy is fundamentally chaotic and even our own democracy had its own bits of weirdness. (Did you know that one of the Founding Fathers was going to attempt a Napolean-esque take-over of the capital, until he was turned aside by clever politicking?)