Bahrainis are better off than many other Arabs. We have a welfare state, everybody gets a salary whether they have a job or not. Electricity and food are subsidized; school and healthcare are free. And we don't differentiate between Bahrainis and foreigners. We are very proud of that.

Democracy is not just constitutional and legislative rules; it is a culture and practice and adhering by the law and respecting international human rights principles.

There are no 'political prisoners' as such in Bahrain. People are not arrested because they express their views, we only have criminals.

In a sense there is no 'opposition' in Bahrain, as the phrase implies one unified block with the same views. Such a phrase is not in our constitution, unlike say the United Kingdom. We only have people with different views and that's ok.

I eat and breathe small government and freedom.

I don't like to dabble in anything I don't do well. I don't talk politics.

As in nature, politics abhors a vacuum. Without a strong voice for more moderate leadership, the Tea Party is filling that vacuum.

Government doesn't do much for the new Americans. The assumption is that they'll take care of themselves if they work hard enough.