Floridians waiting to vote. Credit: the Associated Press
Judging from a spate of recent references, we may soon reach the point where, to paraphrase Walt Kelly, we have met the third world and it is us.
This trend vigorously penetrated my consciousness via press coverage of the ridiculously long voting lines for the presidential election in many areas around the country. A Floridian who was turned away after waiting two hours to cast her vote in early voting told The Miami Herald, “This is America, not a third-world country.” Former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman said on MSNBC, also in reference to Florida, “I’ve led delegations around the world to watch voting, and this is the kind of thing you expect in a third-world country, not in the United States of America.” As Mayor Michael Bloomberg of…