Less Preachy Than M*A*S*H

Palestinian official and Brookings Insitution scholar Khalil Shikaki admits on today’s NYT op-ed page that democracy might just be a good thing for his people.

For the terminally clueless, let’s go over the historical record here, in an easy-to-read (and mercifully short) graph.

Republican or Representative Democracy = Every place you’d like to raise children.

Any Other Form of Government = Every other shithole on the planet.

Did I miss anything?

Oh, yeah — Khalil says that Arafat might have to “give up some power” in a new parliamentary arrangement.

(Cue laughter.)