Coup d'etat in Mauritania

[2952-0-0]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7544834.stm

Poor country...

[Хahar 🤔]

And it was just two days ago that I was marveling at the transition to democracy that had taken place.

[Silent Hunter]

Charming.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     So much for this one. Makes me glad to live somewhere where we don't have to worry about these sorts of things.

[StateBoiler]

     So much for this one. Makes me glad to live somewhere where we don't have to worry about these sorts of things.

Why not? Maybe if our politicians thought they had a threat of having a gun pointed at them, they'd actually do a job worth a rat's ass, as opposed to our current system where Congress has 15% approval, 95% of those that make up the organism with 15% approval get reelected, and the vast majority of the American public are castrated from having any real power and can't improve things, even via the ballot box.

The greatest thing that ever happened to this country was a mob in Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays picked up some guns and started shooting at the local government officials. It was their way of saying "you're not doing good enough!" Because of Shays Rebellion, we have the Constitution.

[Hash]

Led by General Muhammad Ould ‘Abd Al-‘Aziz, who also led the 2005 coup.

Apparently, he broke with President Abdallahi, whose candidacy he had supported in 2007.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     So much for this one. Makes me glad to live somewhere where we don't have to worry about these sorts of things.

Why not? Maybe if our politicians thought they had a threat of having a gun pointed at them, they'd actually do a job worth a rat's ass, as opposed to our current system where Congress has 15% approval, 95% of those that make up the organism with 15% approval get reelected, and the vast majority of the American public are castrated from having any real power and can't improve things, even via the ballot box.

The greatest thing that ever happened to this country was a mob in Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays picked up some guns and started shooting at the local government officials. It was their way of saying "you're not doing good enough!" Because of Shays Rebellion, we have the Constitution.

     While I agree that the politicians need someone to light a fire under their seats, violence isn't the answer. After the Coup occurs & the politicians are overthrown, there's nothing to stop them from going after any random person who happens to not like them.

[ottermax]

yet again... It seems like it was only yesterday when they last had a coup.

[Hash]

yet again... It seems like it was only yesterday when they last had a coup.

2005. But it does seem like yesterday, actually.

[Хahar 🤔]

And this was in a country with televised debates, too.

[2952-0-0]

     So much for this one. Makes me glad to live somewhere where we don't have to worry about these sorts of things.

Why not? Maybe if our politicians thought they had a threat of having a gun pointed at them, they'd actually do a job worth a rat's ass, as opposed to our current system where Congress has 15% approval, 95% of those that make up the organism with 15% approval get reelected, and the vast majority of the American public are castrated from having any real power and can't improve things, even via the ballot box.

The greatest thing that ever happened to this country was a mob in Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays picked up some guns and started shooting at the local government officials. It was their way of saying "you're not doing good enough!" Because of Shays Rebellion, we have the Constitution.

I agree. The politicians of Bolivia and El Salvador are the most competent in the world.

[StateBoiler]

     So much for this one. Makes me glad to live somewhere where we don't have to worry about these sorts of things.

Why not? Maybe if our politicians thought they had a threat of having a gun pointed at them, they'd actually do a job worth a rat's ass, as opposed to our current system where Congress has 15% approval, 95% of those that make up the organism with 15% approval get reelected, and the vast majority of the American public are castrated from having any real power and can't improve things, even via the ballot box.

The greatest thing that ever happened to this country was a mob in Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays picked up some guns and started shooting at the local government officials. It was their way of saying "you're not doing good enough!" Because of Shays Rebellion, we have the Constitution.

I agree. The politicians of Bolivia and El Salvador are the most competent in the world.

Well, in case you haven't noticed, the American model of "mildly apathetic public that lets elected officials do what they want with little constraints" is failing. So there has to be another model that holds officials more accountable, but one does not exist currently. Look at the EU, they're trying to create a centralized organ that is even less accountable to the individual. Your country itself is quite the piece of work. So tell me how else we can make this better? In case you haven't noticed, politicians and other high individuals have an ambition of power, and they will subvert public will to gain it, and it does not matter whether it's a democracy or not. There's bad democracies just as there are enlightened despots. And don't give me that Churchill quote either of "democracy is the worst form of government other than all the other ones". The essence of it is Churchill saying "democracy's a failure, but we have to pretend it's working".

You must be logged in to read this quote.

How are you going to light the fire under their seats? Congress is not accountable to anyone currently. That's why they get nothing done. And don't give me some joke answer like "elections", cause it's very clear in our society that elections don't work cause the value of one individual vote has been incredibly cheapened and it's likely the district you live in is one of the 95% that is biased towards one party always winning.

[Dan the Roman]

And a government fell in Mauritania, and no one heard.

[Associate Justice PiT]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

How are you going to light the fire under their seats? Congress is not accountable to anyone currently. That's why they get nothing done. And don't give me some joke answer like "elections", cause it's very clear in our society that elections don't work cause the value of one individual vote has been incredibly cheapened and it's likely the district you live in is one of the 95% that is biased towards one party always winning.

     Nonviolent protest can go far. A violent coup is something of an overreaction. In "Civil Disobedience," Henry David Thoreau puts forward a blueprint for nonviolent resistance like that used by Mohandas Gahndi & Martin Luther King, Jr.. There are ways to change things besides force, regardless of how disenfranchised voters are.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Mohandas Gahndi & Martin Luther King, Jr

Each of these cases have eclipsed the huge violences there were around them and without which their actions wouldn't have worked or simply wouldn't have had some sense.

It seems that big changes always need a part of force to occur. And what I think for sure it is that strong real changes are long to occur. "Revolutions" are just some kind of knee-jerk reactions of a society, at best some steps.

     So much for this one. Makes me glad to live somewhere where we don't have to worry about these sorts of things.

Why not? Maybe if our politicians thought they had a threat of having a gun pointed at them, they'd actually do a job worth a rat's ass, as opposed to our current system where Congress has 15% approval, 95% of those that make up the organism with 15% approval get reelected, and the vast majority of the American public are castrated from having any real power and can't improve things, even via the ballot box.

The greatest thing that ever happened to this country was a mob in Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays picked up some guns and started shooting at the local government officials. It was their way of saying "you're not doing good enough!" Because of Shays Rebellion, we have the Constitution.

I agree. The politicians of Bolivia and El Salvador are the most competent in the world.

Well, in case you haven't noticed, the American model of "mildly apathetic public that lets elected officials do what they want with little constraints" is failing. So there has to be another model that holds officials more accountable, but one does not exist currently. Look at the EU, they're trying to create a centralized organ that is even less accountable to the individual. Your country itself is quite the piece of work. So tell me how else we can make this better? In case you haven't noticed, politicians and other high individuals have an ambition of power, and they will subvert public will to gain it, and it does not matter whether it's a democracy or not. There's bad democracies just as there are enlightened despots. And don't give me that Churchill quote either of "democracy is the worst form of government other than all the other ones". The essence of it is Churchill saying "democracy's a failure, but we have to pretend it's working".

You must be logged in to read this quote.

How are you going to light the fire under their seats? Congress is not accountable to anyone currently. That's why they get nothing done. And don't give me some joke answer like "elections", cause it's very clear in our society that elections don't work cause the value of one individual vote has been incredibly cheapened and it's likely the district you live in is one of the 95% that is biased towards one party always winning.

I must say I fully agree with most of this. I would add on this that citizens are letting them dying. They let them lose themselves in some sort of emotional and irrational atmosphere in which no matter the reality, this one is no more important, it is its perception which is important. How it makes the job easy for politicians to manipulate the population! They understood it very well, they no more do politics, they do communication, and I know what I speak about with the illusionist Sarkozy, and let's watch the next wonderful example of it with the wonderful David Cameron over the Channel.

Next step? To me, the fact that peoples finish by no more trusting politicians to give their trust to those who will exploit far more this emotional and irrational atmosphere, which would be those who would pretend to speak in the name of "God"... Welcome to the future! Maybe, maybe not...

Mauritania? That's really bad for this country. The regime which was trying to be established seemed to be really interesting and began to give results for the country...

[Colin]

Considering that Mauritania has had something like 15 coups and attempted coups since 1962 this is not all that suprising. Though I had to marvel at that number, it's insanely high even for your average sub-Saharan African nation.

[Jacobtm]

Led by General Muhammad Ould ‘Abd Al-‘Aziz, who also led the 2005 coup.

Apparently, he broke with President Abdallahi, whose candidacy he had supported in 2007.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes...

[War on Want]

Considering that Mauritania has had something like 15 coups and attempted coups since 1962 this is not all that suprising. Though I had to marvel at that number, it's insanely high even for your average sub-Saharan African nation.