And now for something completely different

Rather than the usual blathering attempts at wisdom, I would like to point you to the real thing. This story leads todays MIT Technology Review. Bhutan will undertake an experiment in democracy that makes US history look shortsighted indeed. It is also a brilliant demonstration of the difference between government by an morally enlightened leader and government by whatever Dubya is.

If you have problems with the link [I feed it cookies I got with my subscription], maybe this paragraph will whet your appetite to go to the library:

Rejecting the models of urbanization and unregulated market development usually promoted by the U.S. government, the king has crafted the framework for a political economy based on a theoretically harmonious mix of representative government, south-Asian-style capitalism, traditional religious values, environmentalism, hydropower, tourism, mandated preventative medicine, and universal health care.

It is everything I want in a country and none of the superpower crap I don't want and can't afford.