Cliff Stearns: “today I reflect on some of the recent elections held in other countries. While citizens of other countries may have…”

“today I reflect on some of the recent elections held in other countries. While citizens of other countries may have different values about the level of government intervention in areas, let us say in economics or labor rights, overwhelmingly, most citizens of the world would prefer to live in a democracy than a totalitarian-run system. This was presented last summer by the Pew Research Center for the People in the Press. Pew Research Center interviewed over 66,000 people in 44 countries over 2 years. The majority demonstrated strong preferences in democratic governments, even in Muslim countries. Over the past 3 weeks, other people have elected leaders, sometimes new, sometimes the incumbent. I wish for all, of course, to live under the same sunshine of freedom that we in the United States have here. In Taiwan Saturday, March 20, incumbent President Chen, Taiwan's pro-independence leader, was declared to have won by a slim margin, just a hair over 50 percent. This election was preceded by threats from mainland China and Chen's international detractors, and jittery nerves by many who urged 'don't rock the boat.' On election eve, President Chen and his Vice President were shot in a craven attack. The aftermath of the election is a little calmer: there are street protests and a recount is imminent.”