July 31, 2006 9:26AM 

# Is the President Even Paying Attention Anymore? 

By [Justin Logan](https://www.cato.org/people/justin-logan) 

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Via [Matt Yglesias](http://yglesias.tpmcafe.com/blog/yglesias/2006/jul/28/deep_thoughts_from_george_w_bush), this from President Bush:

> “There’s a lot of suffering in the Palestinian Territory because militant Hamas is trying to stop the advance of democracy.”

As Matt properly asks, does it really make sense to argue that Hamas is trying to stop the advance of democracy — when democracy *is* *[what put them in power](http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/01/26/palestinian.election.1604/) in the first place???*

##### Related Tags 

[Defense and Foreign Policy](https://www.cato.org/defense-foreign-policy) 

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