2 Texans Down Under

A government was overthrown here Saturday.

You probably read or saw reports about it: Kevin Rudd and the liberal Labor Party snatched control of the country from John Howard and the conservative Liberal Party. It was a transfer of power by ballot and it was a joy to watch.

Having already become avidly partisan even though we cannot vote because we are not citizens here, Kristi and I were thrilled to see Rudd end Howard’s reign of more than 11 years. A leader of dubious veracity and limited vision has been replaced by a younger man who is middle-of-the-road on many issues but seems to grasp the gravity of global warming, the importance of openness in government, and need to preserve the Aussie tradition of “a fair go” for all citizens.

There was a lot at stake, and although Howard had on his stoic, strong face during his concession speech, he looked ashen in some subsequent photographs. In addition to being removed from the Prime Minister’s post, he also lost his House of Representatives seat, so his 33-year political career is likely over.

There being no November to January transition period here, Rudd and his team are already at work. He warned his team to celebrate with “a strong cup of tea” Saturday night and then to be ready to go to work Sunday, which they did.

Rudd was gracious to Howard in his acceptance speech and has said Mr. Howard could take as long as he needs to move out of the Prime Minister’s quarters in Sydney and Canberra, the national capital, but the deed is done. The young bull has driven the old bull to the edge of the herd or beyond.

Watching the news from Pakistan, Iraq, Russia, China, various parts of Africa, Thailand, and smaller countries in this region, one can scarcely over-estimate the value of democratic values and institutions, flawed though they surely are both here and in the United States.

People who literally hate each others’ guts have spent month after boring (bless that word) month struggling to retain or take control the raw power of this country and all the benefits that billion-dollar budgets convey. They organized, they slung mud, they tried all the tricks they thought they could get away with. A cynic might say that our thugs beat their thugs.

But it’s not literally so. Nobody, as far as I know, was physically beaten. Nobody was killed in the process of changing the course of this nation, and that is, in fact, what happened here Saturday.

Now it’s America’s turn. Hugely powerful lobby groups will seek to buy the Presidency. Immoral people will try to hijack electronic voting. Supposedly non-partisan institutions such as the Supreme Court may be called into service on behalf of those in power who imagine that nothing is more important than their staying in control.

It’s a terrible, rotten system, full of inequity wrapped up in patriotism, rife with temptations for the doing of genuine evil. As others have observed, democracy is the worst of systems except for all the rest.

Sometimes democracy can be a joy to watch and its results can be glorious, as they were here Saturday night. Sometimes the results can be sheer folly with horrific consequences. The losers, though, are allowed to live and remain free. They can go for an early-morning walk the next day, as John Howard did. They may even go on to lead the world toward profound and positive change. They could even win a Nobel Prize.

– Bob