QUITE REMARKABLE - AT 10:22 A.M. ET:  One of the most underreported stories by the American media is the breathtaking development of India's democracy.  Maybe it's underreported because President Bush was so successful in moving India toward the West, and one must not openly praise BUSH (!!).  But the facts speak for themselves and provide a very encouraging picture.  From the excellent Salim Mansur in the Toronto Sun:

India's recent election shows the distance this vast and diverse country has advanced on the path of democracy. How impressive this is may be appreciated when viewed in the context that no other developing society has confronted obstacles as many and huge as India in the process of making her democratic progress.

The sheer logistics of holding a country-wide election for 543 seats of the Lok Sabha -- 714 million eligible voters in a population of over 1.1 billion voting in more than 828,000 polling centres -- illustrate the demand on people and resources to make India the world's largest republican democracy.

The extent to which democracy has become part of India's political and social fabric -- the April-May voting was the 15th general election since the first, held in 1952, after India adopted a republican constitution with a parliamentary form of government in 1950 -- is one of the more optimistic stories in our world.

And...

India's emergence as a major global player and ally of the West is buttressed and legitimized by her democracy. This too is reason, in our somewhat grim world, deserving celebration.

COMMENT:  Celebrate we will, even without the press.  There was a time when India was openly hostile to the United States.  Times have changed.  And, isn't it interesting, as India has grown closer to the West, it has grown increasingly prosperous.  I wonder why.

June 6, 2009