christmas tree democracy

I took the cub christmas tree hunting today, at one of those "cut your own fresh tree" places that you can find all over this part of the country.   She was extremely excited that she got to choose the tree.  And of course, she immediately fell in love with the skinniest, scrawniest, Charlie Brownest tree on the lot. 

So what was I to I do?  Respect the will of the electorate, even if the choice was clearly suboptimal?  Or go all Mubarak and try to manipulate the process to get my preferred result? 

Well, I admit that I tried some of the obvious, fully legal  methods. I tried a barrage of campaign commercials - "hey honey, look at THIS tree!".  I tried distraction, to change the topic of the debate just before the election - "let's play hide and seek!"  I even tried the paternalistic advice - "sweetheart, I think you might be happier with this tree." 

She wouldn't budge.  She loved her scrawny little tree. 

But I had to be true to my principles.  The people, or the person, had spoken.    No secret manipulating of the ballot boxes.  No asserting the dictator's perogative.   No "disappearing" of the winning candidate.   

And you know what?  She loves the tree.  We all love the tree because she does.  OK, it's a bit scrawny, a bit short, a bit bare around the middle.  But we all love it, and she is in christmas tree nirvana.

Is this a metaphor for Arab democracy?  No, it's just a christmas tree.  Have a great weekend!

Comments

[Bill Petti]

Any chance we get some pics to see just how Charlie Brown-esque the tree is? :)

[AlphaBeta]

You could have bought both, right?
But...who gets 2 trees?
You could be trailblazer.
Though if it were a metaphor for Arab democracy there are some parallels. There is an election for the State Dept. and some press and then there's the real election whose results everyone knows before voting even starts.
The difference in your case is everyone wins, save perhaps your pocketbook.