Average, predictable tyranny just not sexy enough?

So, how many people have actually heard about what's happening in Pakistan. Yes, it did break on the weekend, and the news reels covered it fiercely in the first few hours, but since then, the coverage has been spotty and scant at best. Americans just don't seem to be interested, and somehow that either came from the administration's veneer of disinterest, or a trickle up affect from the masses own apathy. But no matter how this unnatural homeostasis of apathy for Pakistan's plight is a huge, hug mistake. This country, which is so obviously in the throes of a tyrannous and ill-advised lock down of all things democratic, has somehow lost credit with the Bush Administration's push for world wide Democratic ideals. Yes, Bush has come out and said a few nice words, and then a few more harsh words directed at Musharraf, but they aren't really connected to any threat of US action. Now, this isn't a suggestion that we should immediately fly in, but a little pressure would be well advised. Let's not forget that unlike other countries teetering on the precarious tip of internal/external revolt (for instance, say Iran or North Korea), Pakistan has nukes. That's right, bona fide Nuclear. The military has declared a state of emergency, and intellectuals and Human Rights activists are being rounded up and put in pens awaiting a decision, like turkeys fenced in before Thanksgiving - and the outlook for either side of that simile doesn't look rosy.

So why aren't we more concerned? Perhaps the administration is uneasy about addressing civil liberties, and the sacrifice of said liberties with an appeal to people's sense of security ... sound familiar? If nothing is done to help, the least we can do as free citizens is learn from other country's problems, and see the dangerous political avenues we might choose to travel down ten blocks before we approach them. We can't be blinkered to the events of the outside world, except for a select few nations - because its the roadblocks that allow us to better visualize a more enlightened journey.

But let's try and do something in Pakistan, eh? Why not push on our administration to push on their administration. We don't even necessarily have to threaten with our might (which is deteriorating in the hot sands of the Middle East), but use sanctions, embargoes, etc. One thing our government is good at is stalling and bureaucratic tie ups, so why not harness that power, and execute it on another nation for a change?