Intellectual Courage about Pakistan’s (and America’s) Dynastic Politics

Published: January 4, 2008, 9:19 pm

Tags: books movies media, politics, south asia, subscriptions, usa, benazir bhutto, bhtv, bilawal bhutto zardari, democratization, george w bush, hillary clinton, joshua hammer, michael hirsch, pakistan, pakistan people s party, pervez musharraf, ppp

FP Passport’s Blake Hounshell seems to endorse Matthew Yglesias’ argument that the US has no justification for criticizing the Pakistan People’s Party for anointing former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as its titular leader, because "…the odds of us going Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton in the White House look pretty good…" It’s like marking a liberal bona fide, where good intellectuals just don’t throw rocks while living in glass houses. But, it’s really ultimately a a bad analogy that justifies propping up a dictator. However, Joshua Hammer and Michael Hirsch can both joke about the Clinton-Bush feud, AND more pertinently point out that General Pervez Musharraf kept a lid on democratization. The medievalism of the PPP might be manifest, but Musharraf played a more corrosive role by not allowing democratic alternatives to appear, mostly notably when he ousted Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar

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