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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
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 Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 2:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Shoot, I was looking forward to his capture and trial. Can you imagine the show he would have put on? The wardrobe changes alone day to day would have made it the trial of the century! |
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geaaronson
Joined: 19 Apr 2005
Posts: 948
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 7:50 pm Post subject: |
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| All the more reason to have Sarah Palin for President, guy. she knows how to wear them, display them and strut like a peacock in them. Bring on the Altman Bros./Saks/Bonwit Teller clothes, our Prez is going to model high fashion. |
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artemisia
Joined: 04 Nov 2008
Posts: 875
Location: the world
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| Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2011 8:37 am Post subject: |
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| Despite all the jubilation at the death of this tyrant, it was awful to see how he died. It certainly looked like Ghaddafi. This doesn't bode well for the start of a 'new' Libya, or not a democratic one anyway. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:22 pm Post subject: |
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No, it was brutal.
I tried to remind myself that the man himself was certainly brutal - a monster, in fact, but I hope that the Libyan people will quickly move to a civilised government and way of living - this wasn't a good start. Hopefully it is the end of sanctioned, government-level brutality in the country.... |
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Qaaolchoura
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Posts: 539
Location: 21 miles from the Syrian border
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| Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Guy Courchesne wrote: |
| Shoot, I was looking forward to his capture and trial. Can you imagine the show he would have put on? The wardrobe changes alone day to day would have made it the trial of the century! |
I absolutely agree. Putting him on trial in the Hague would be a small victory for the principle of "responsibility to protect." I take some consolation in that it seems like the NTC was very determined to take him alive, and he may have been shot by his own supported for that reason.
On a more flippant note, I know it's not appropriate to laugh just yet, but I did laugh at the clothes bit. And it relates to another thing, which causes me to worry a bit about his legacy. Absolute dictator have the chance to be absolutely crazy, and thus make interesting stories. Which is why they can be featured on a popular humor website. Even Ida Amin, a dictator far more brutal than Qaddafi, and one who simply fled his country and lived on stolen money, managed to become The Last King of Scotland. But it's occurred to me that moreso than any other dictator in recent memory, Qaddafi is close to the perfect supervillain.
Like a handful of dictators, he genuinely believed in what he did, and managed to deflect charges of kleptocracy onto his family. He portrayed himself as a revolutionary and still has supporters among those who didn't have to live under him. His influence on the world stage and distinctive dress made him an icon of sorts. And despite his murderous ways and defeated ideology, he refused to give in even in utter defeat, and managed to die in battle. The only analogue I can think of is Che Guevara, whose murderous methods and extremist ideology have been completely forgotten.
I suspect few years if not less, we will see media portraying him as a Magnificent *beep* or even a tragic protagonist. Which is another reason I wanted him to go to trial. Milosevic was rather similar, but he died in custody. Franco, Kim Il Sung, and the crazy Turkmen went quietly into the night, as I suspect will Castro and Kim Jong Il. (I only count dictators who completely dominated their country.) That's why the best villains in fiction tend to die or escape to fight again, rather than go into exile, rot in jail, or simply win.
~Q |
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sheikh radlinrol
Joined: 30 Jan 2007
Posts: 1222
Location: Spain
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| Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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| artemisia wrote: |
| Despite all the jubilation at the death of this tyrant, it was awful to see how he died. It certainly looked like Ghaddafi. This doesn't bode well for the start of a 'new' Libya, or not a democratic one anyway. |
I couldn�t agree more. The satisfaction felt today by the the Libyans will surely turn to apprehension in the coming weeks and months. |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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| Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 6:54 pm Post subject: |
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"Say hello to the new boss/Same as the old boss."
That certainly seems to be the case in Egypt - so far.
Regards,
John |
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