Originally posted by .::Tin Can::.
Well technically we would be imposing democracy, but since our country is a democracy it's basically the same thing, right?
Wrong.
You can't classify democracy as the "American" thing, since it's just a system. We are just reknown for our democratic approach, and overall, general sucess over a rather short period in history.
No, technically, the USA
isn't a democracy. We don't vote on issues so much as we vote on people to vote on issues for us.
However, if we assume Democracy is the system of government we use (Which I think Bush has either stated or strongly implied, because it's such a good-sounding word) then it is "our system" of government. No, we don't have any ownership on it, but it is the system of government and in common English usage, "our system".
And if we run around trying to make nations democratic (Hell, we went to war with Iraq) then we are imposing that system of government on others.
Quite honestly, what I saw of Bush's speech could basically be classified as "Four more years" (I started watching ~30 minutes after it started, though, less than halfway through - but I bet half the time I missed was just opening remarks and introductions). A short, general blurb on what's going to happen, all the Great Things about it, and then a feel-good section about how great the stuff we've done has been.
I didn't really hear anything new, I didn't hear a grand plan, more of a movie trailer of a speech about Bush's presidency.