Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Bullies and Dictators Rarely Stand Up To Any Heat

By now, we all know that when the dictator of Ethiopia steals an election or his blatant lies are exposed, he invariably resorts to ad hominem attacks. The Honorable Ana Gomes who witnessed the daylight robbery of the 2005 election, the US State Department and the august international rights group (Human Rights Watch) have all earned the ire of the vicious and delusional dictator. And now, the highly respected Bloomberg journalist Jason McLure has been added to the list in the latest Meles.
http://www.jimmatimes.com/article/Latest_News/Latest_News/Ethiopias_PM_Zenawi_attacks_Bloomberg_News_journalist/33571

If, it were Tekeda Alemu, the underling or Patrick Gilkes, the handsomely paid mercenary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who wrote this nonsense, the least these imbecils could do is spell their boogey man’s last name correctly (McLure and not McClure)

In the years that Jason McLure of Bloomberg News has been reporting from Addis he has written well researched, well-documented articles about the political environment in Ethiopia. He could have just kicked back in the sun and practiced yellow journalism like most of the foreign journalists in Ethiopia.

Unlike other ferenji journalists, who can be bribed, wined and dined in Al-Amoudi’s harem to swallow Meles’ lies, hook, line and sinker, and regurgitate the crappy talking points from Bereket Simon’s office when the sun rises, the late Tony Mitchell, Jeffrey Gettleman and Jason McLure never fell into that trap.

It was easy for these serious journalists, who have immense pride in their profession
to determine soon enough that Ethiopia is ruled by a pompous dictator and habitual liar with a coterie of underlings who mix fact with fiction to hide the truth about the political and socio-economic crisis in the country. They became anathema to a dangerous dictator who has effectively decapitated the Ethiopian press to hide his crimes. And there was no way he would allow the trio of these impeccable journalists to bear witness and report his egregious offenses. They had to be declared public enemy # I and maligned, threatened with deportation and even imprisonment for doing their job.

Fortunately, through their hard work and the work of Human RightsWatch, the world has come to learn that Meles is nothing but a criminal thug whose heinous crimes have been well documented. And, in the not too distant future, he will no doubt find himself at The Hague to stand trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

As the late Tony Mitchell, Jeffrey Gettleman and Jason McLure will remain heroes among Ethiopians who appreciate their intelligence, compassion and diligence in exposing Meles for what he really is- a corrupt, egomaniac coward who will stoop to the lowest crevices of the cesspool.

Isn’t it really time for the Obama Administration to shut off the spigot to the pig’s trough? Surely, jamming the Voice of America and roughing up American citizens is an egregious offense and a disrespect no U.S. President should tolerate.