It is very unfortunate for ASEAN that Burma is part of their family. There is no polite way to put it other than ASEAN will never have the needed global respect with Burma acting like it does.
It seems the time of ASEAN turning their heads and holding their noses may be coming to an end when it comes to Burma. For the most part Burma simply does not fit. Other than the natural resources they offer like gas, they simply have no real leverage. So it is a bit like a drug addict needing their fix and the one that sells it is far less than a role model. They allowed themselves to get involved, and now kicking the Burma habit is a bit like giving up cocaine. You must first hit bottom before you are ready.
Every place you look you read farce, sham, rigged, secretive when it comes to the farce, sham, rigged, secretive Burma elections of November 7. It is very clear no government including the UN sees this election as democratic. However Burma looks to force feed this election onto the world as democracy, but in real life it more resembles a bad fitting toupe making the person wearing it look foolish.
For ASEAN to make the regional and global advancements it wants Burma must simply be expelled from ASEAN. Any dealings with ASEAN makes one feel like they are dealing with dictators and juntas. Burma’s membership in ASEAN is simply seen as endorsement of their bad behavior and that taints the rest of the countries.
ASEAN has some real potential simply because of the global region and that a good chunk of the global population is represented by the member countries.
Connecting the Dots knows this is not one of our better entries, but when it comes to Burma, there is not much sense in repeating what the world is already saying. However we could not help but entertain and snicker at the thought that if Aung San Suu Kyi was a write in winner, the junta would probably blow a few primary units and act a lot like China did when the Nobel Peace Prize announcements were made.
