This is a photo of...
This is a photo of...Montana, you say? No. Kyrgyzstan.
You're not the only one who's noticed the similarity. Governor Schweitzer has too, as Emmett O'Connell notes at Western Democrat:
You're not the only one who's noticed the similarity. Governor Schweitzer has too, as Emmett O'Connell notes at Western Democrat:
"The Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic to the United States came to compare Big Sky Country’s ranches and ski resorts, fly-fishing rivers and universities, to those in Kyrgyzstan. Although the two mountain landscapes are half a planet away, Montana and Kyrgyzstan have a wide-ranging network of connections dating back to the 1990s."Question: how do you build foreign policy cred as a Western state governor? Answer: any way you can. Question: why would you want to build foreign policy cred as a Western state governor? Answer: because you're running for President.
"'We would like to work in close relations with small businesses in Montana,' Sydykova said through interpreter Sharjan Tashtanbekova, one of the first Kyrgyz exchange students to the University of Montana. 'We’re trying to learn how Montana works at these industries.'”
posted by Nonpartisan at 2:00 PM
2 Comments:
Now, if you're going to start getting interested in Kyrgyzstan, you're going to have to read up on their Constitution - which looks something like the US one, but has some fascinating stuff.
Here:
http://www.kyrgyzstan.org/Law/constitution.htm
For example, Article 26 Section 3:
3. Respect for old people and support for relatives is a sacred tradition of the people of Kyrgyzstan.
Closely followed by Article 27 Section 1:
1. Social maintenance at the expense of the government in old age, in sickness and in the event of complete or partial disability or loss of the main provider shall be guaranteed in the Kyrgyz Republic.
And don't forget Article 31 Section 1 and Article 32 Section 1:
1. Citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic shall have the right to rest.
1. Every citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic shall have the right to education.
Of course, there's also the fascinating pacifist Article 9:
1. The Kyrgyz Republic does not pursue the policy of expansion, aggression and territorial claims, resolved by military force. ... 2. The right to conduct a war shall not be acknowledged, unless there is aggression against Kyrgyzstan and other states, bound by obligations of the collective defense. In any event, a military unit may cross the borders of the Kyrgyz Republic only with the permission of no less than two thirds of the total number of the deputies of the Legislative Assembly of the Jogorku Kenesh.
So maybe Schweitzer is trying to add respect for old people and pacifism to the constitution of Montana, eh?
Also -- wasn't there some sort of rebellion in Kyrgyzstan recently? A civil war or something?
And why the hell do you know so much about Kyrgyzstan? :)
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