Now normally I'm not much of a fan of the reality tee vee but I've gotta say that The Democracy Show that the Americans are putting on right now?

TWO THUMBS UP!

Now this is rivetting tee vee.

For those of you who haven't been following along, it began with a war in Iraq. The original premise was weapons of mass destruction and imminent threat to the United States but when that didn't exactly work out, the premise got switched to Taking Down a Cruel Dictator, closing torture chambers and bringing Freedom and Democracy to the Middle East.

The taking down a cruel dictator part went pretty well, but there's been a few wrinkles in the closing torture chambers part, wrinkles that involve the words abuse, torture, rape and murder. You may have seen some pictures. I hear there's video, too.

The American President has gone on tee vee to say this isn't how a democracy works and that people will pay for what has happened in these Iraqi prisons. Boys and girls, we're about to see Real Live Democracy In Action!

Except, well, the President has also said that it's just a few bad apples, and just a few isolated cases and pretty much in one prison.

Meanwhile, the International Red Cross has been saying, "Uh, actually we've been reporting problems at all American military prisons in Iraq to senior officials for about a year now and nobody did anything."

This leaves me feeling confused. Oh, well, I guess the plot twists are what keeps it interesting, right?

The Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has said that he had detailed reports on what was happening in the American military prisons in Iraq as early as January but he didn't think it was a big enough deal to mention to the President or Congress.

I can understand how he might think that because, after all, this is the man who set up the military prison in Guantanamo Bay and told the world that the Geneva Convention didn't apply there. Maybe he got reports of what was happening at Guantanamo mixed up with what was happening in Iraq. He's a busy man. He's got wars to fight. It's an understandable error.

Oh. Wait. Do you think that some of the American military might have inferred that if the Geneva Convention didn't apply to people from the Middle East at one American military prison, that maybe it didn't apply to other Middle Eastern people in the military prisons in Iraq?

I mean, after all, it's all part of the same War on Terror, right?

Do you think that's why nobody acted on those International Red Cross warnings and let the abuse escalate until it morphed into naked people being bitten by attack dogs, into rape and even into murder?

Wow.

If that was the case, doesn't it seem that Donald Rumsfeld is responsible, truly responsible for what happened in those prisons in Iraq?

Or is that just me being goofy?

The Democracy Show is being watched the world over. Oh, my, yes, this amazing piece of reality tee vee is one of the biggest civics lessons the United States is ever going to give.

Already, we've learned the power of public opinion in democracies. Remember the episode when the story broke and the President said he was "disgusted" by the pictures but then pretty much let it drop? 'Member? And then when he realized people were truly upset by it, he went on the tee vee again and explained the bit about democracy and people paying. 'Member?

But just like on American Idol, people must have called in and voted that something more be done because suddenly the President (and everybody else in his administration or the American military anywhere near a microphone) started apologizing for what happened in the prisons of Iraq.

Profusely.

There have been words. Contrite words. Lots and lots of contrite words.

When Americans talk about their democracy they use some pretty amazing words, among them phrases such as "all men are created equal" as well as "and justice for all."

We're at the point in The Democracy Show where we find out if these are empty words or if the United States actually lives by these words. In a short time we're going to see who pays for what happened in those Iraqi prisons.

Is it going to stop at a few low level soldiers?

Is the very powerful man who is the boss of all these soldiers, the man who said the Geneva Convention didn't always apply to the American military, going to walk away just a few words poorer?

I have no idea. The suspense is killing me.

The amazing thing is that just like on American Idol, ordinary people will decide what happens, just as they have already shaped the way the American government has reacted to the story.

If you're an American of voting age who calls or writes your congressman, senator, or local newspaper you will affect the outcome of The Democracy Show. Yes, you can play along at home. In the end, that's what democracy is all about.

And if you think the universe is unfolding as it should, you can kick back and do nothing because even in your silence you're delivering a message in a nudge, nudge, wink, wink sort of way.

Your message?

"I'm shocked and appalled by these terrible pictures."

"Next time, Don't Use A Freaking Camera."

--Marn