young's "sectarian" fallacy.
michael young, opinion editor of the daily star, has written an article "
in praise of lebanese sectarianism." although there are many points in this article i disagree with, most disagreements arise from our different constructs, and thus, i will not discuss them. however, i would like to concentrate on his conclusion, because it (and the argument leading to it) is a commonality in various discussions i have had with "pro-sectarianists." young's conclusion - found in the first paragraph - is that "sectarianism, for all its demonstrable shortcomings, is the only system reflecting the true nature of social relations".
unfortunately, such a conclusion is fallacious; the fallacy, in as few words as possible, is this: young uses anecdotal evidence to create his argument that sectarianism is the only system for lebanon. however, the main reason there is not much (if any) anecdotal evidence in lebanon to the contrary (which would have been enough to disprove his conclusion) is that sectarianism is the ONLY system lebanon has ever tried.
in short, like many others, young has created a strawman.
but enough logical tennis. we, as a lebanese society, need to seriously consider how de-confessionalising our political establishment will fare with respect to the current system. such deconfessionalisation does not come with a blank slate of projected perfection, and with this is mind, we need to make a decision. imagine if you will a patient with several diseases which have led to almost complete paralysis (but will not lead to death). there is a possible cure for one of these diseases, but like everything else in life, this cure is not a certainty. there is a chance of success, in which the patient will gain some form of mobility, but on the other hand, there is also a chance of failure, in which the patient will live a life (possibly much) worse off than his current situation. should this patient proceed with the operation? what information does he need to decide?
sectarianism, or political confessionalism, is one of the ills in lebanon (young seems to agree with this notion, as mentioned in paragraph 2). although a long-term strategy for the deconfessionalisation of our confessional system can potentially introduce great benefits, it can also yield destructive blowbacks. only after gathering information with regards to these different scenarios, such as their likelihood and the possible introduction of methods that mitigate various and justified worries (such as introducing a system of civil liberties and rights), can we really make the best decision of whether to simply "modify" the current system, as young and others suggest, or to deconfessionalise it. fallacious arguments are, and always have been, useless for such discussions, and the resulting decisions.
The Scent of "Divine Victory."
in case you're interested ...
If you've ever wondered what resistance smells like, then try a dab of "Resistance Perfume," which comes "exclusively" with a political message and a picture of Hizbullah's secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Apparently, the scent of resistance is a strong and musky one that comes with a single pledge - "a truthful" one.
"You are the truthful promise ... and I have great faith in you and I promise you divine victory," is the perfume's slogan, borrowed from one of Nasrallah's speeches during the July-August war with Israel.
A digitally manipulated picture of a sinking ship, meant to represent the Israeli warship damaged by a Hizbullah missile during the conflict, along with reprints of Nasrallah's speeches and messages from the "Lebanese prisoners in Israeli prisons" - are all part of the perfume's package, turning a cover into a political message.
"We thought it was a catchy idea, as now the perfume is more than something that smells nice, it is a political statement," said Mohammad Dekmak, who heads Bint Huda, a chain of stores in Beirut's southern suburbs that started selling the perfume this month.
The $1 perfume is being marketed as a unisex product, but is mainly popular with men.
...
Riddle.
Around a week ago, I had a conversation with a friend about something he was looking into getting.
Question: What were we talking about?
----------
Me: Your sister told me you were thinking of getting X?
Him: Eh walla. I think it's about time we get one. Almost everyone seems to have one.
Me: Where are you getting one from?
Him: This one is from A. We heard that getting one from B would be cheaper, but the quality isn't as good.
Me: Can you find them here?
Him: Eh, but we heard that ones that have already been here for more than a year have problems. We are trying to order it from outside.
Me: Can you choose the one you want?
Him: Yes. You go to one of the offices here, and you can choose from a pamphlet. It contains pictures and a short description.
Me: Well, what if you don't like the one you chose?
Him: Different offices have different policies. The one we went to allows us to use X for two months. If we don't like it, we can return it to the office.
Me: Sort of like a warranty.
Him: Exactly. And if we like it, we continue payment.
Me: And what will you do with X on Sundays.
Him: We'll just keep it in the house. I want this to last for more than a year!
----------
What were we talking about?
To see the answer, please highlight the white space below.
Answer: A "maid" from Ethiopia. Although the more correct term is probably "slave." The cheaper one is from Sri lanka. The pamphlet contains pictures of their faces, with a description of age and other details. After two months of "testing" it, you then apply for a longer visa and a work permit; otherwise, you can return it for another one. And of course, they get basically no time off. Even on Sundays. Not even with friends.-----------
the economy.
as various political players continue to compensate for personal insecurities by hurling accusations and (im)mobilizing people, the lebanese economy is slowly but surely evaporating. several multinational technology companies have had a significant drop in sales within the lebanese market over the past year and a half, and the current bulk of their revenue comes from long-term deals closed over a year ago. even the quota for employees has been reduced in recognition of the faltering tempo of business. internet service providers have been shifting their focus from lebanese markets to international markets over the past year or so to compensate for the inability to grow and foster healthy competition. website ventures, which require bandwidth, have moved to cleaner waters in other countries in the MENA region; they had originally planned out their business model keeping in mind that lebanon would soon introduce DSL, a first step to increasing international bandwidth - of course, DSL still hasn't been introduced. at least two local investment firms have reduced their staff to the bare minimum and have almost closed shop. a private school has less than 50% payment rate (down from 90%), and has been lax in asking parents with economic hardships to keep up with tuition payments. local design firms have spent most of the last year in damage control, compensating for broken contracts and changes in schedules and demands, and as a result, have maintained ZERO growth, which in any industry is tantamount to "death." longterm contracts in general are hard to plan for because they rely on concepts such as "expected" revenue and expenses - a concept that does not work well with the current atmosphere. what business can survive on short-term planning? in fact, the only businesses that seem to gloss over these political "earthquakes" are those that operate in international markets, and thus are not a function of local fluctuations. yet some of these firms have recently relocated outside lebanon. even our hotel industry is no longer a strong competitive force in the region - one of the best hotels in MENA is actually found in our lovely southern friend. two VC-like firms / business incubators have all but moved from lebanon - even though they have received funding from individuals in the "moderate" nation of saudi arabia, they have not been able to find any viable investment opportunity with reliable revenue projections. and yet none of the political elite have such issues on their platforms, except in meaningless phrases such as "improving the economy." even the current tax system is simplistic, and does not differentiate between luxuries and needs. tax brackets on income need to improve, but why anyone would accept paying 20% on their salary in lebanon with the knowledge that most of it goes to private mansions is beyond me. the country is on the verge of an inflation explosion and bad policies such as pegging the lira to the dollar for 15 years will eventually backfire. economical ecosystems within lebanon have not matured and infrastructure has not been developed, yet we seem so proud that lebanese are successful when they reside outside lebanon. we are so proud of our history and our trilingual abilities. we are so proud of our almost extinct cedars and our polluted coast. we our proud of our uniqueness, not understanding that there is nothing unique about our internal makeup or our wonderfully uncivil war, or that there is nothing unique about the lack of internal political and economic development. we are so proud of the intelligence of lebanese, yet are too proud to learn lessons from others, and to "stand on the shoulders of giants" with the aim of creating a viable, self-sustainable, and self-correctable political and economic system.
but hey, what am i talking about. all this will be dealt with at a later stage, because we have an existential crisis on our hands, and thus it should absorb all our energies.
of course, isn't it odd that we seem to have an existential crisis year after year after year ... starting from (insert year of birth) ...
book VII.
j.k. rowling has released the title for the last in a fascinating series of children novels: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
yes, i am a harry potter aficionado.
NEW YORK (AP) -- We now have a title for Book VII: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."
Rowling's U.S. publisher, Scholastic Inc., released a brief statement Thursday announcing the name of the world's most anticipated children's book, the finale to her phenomenally popular fantasy series.
No publication date or other details were offered. Rowling is still working on the book, she explained on her Web site in an entry posted early Thursday.
aub student elections: dirty games?
aub student elections 2006. two main groups compete with each other for university seatings. these groups reflect national parties. for now, let's just call the two competing groups: group A and group B.
incident 1 ->
member "a" from group A and member "b" from group B have a drink on one of the weekends before the elections. both "a" and "b" are heavily involved in these elections. "a" reports sick on monday - the initial rumor was that she had food-poisoning - and then goes to the dean a few days later. she had with her some lab results from the hospital, which showed an "excess" of some form of opiate, and she has accused "b" of drugging her. this issue is now being dealt with through other channels.
incident 2 ->
various helpers - individuals who are not heavily involved in the elections - for group A received threatening phone calls from certain thugs (who also threatened the families of these helpers - how cliche) pressuring them to reduce the time and effort they have spent on these elections.
---
taboo.
Will we ever know the truth of what took place in this ... place?
copyright infringement!
several months ago, right after the war, i published a post which had a modified version of the lebanese flag. (
link to flag)
today, while walking somewhere around 5 minutes from Sodeco, I came across this.
considering that the resemblance in the flags is uncanny (there is a main difference though), and that i clearly came up with the concept first, i believe i am entitled to some credit.
who should i contact? advice from lawyers, for once, is welcome.
worshipping men.
(Bliss Street)
you will never be given a visa
he silently stood, facing the consul.
the consular officer repeated "you will never be given a visa by this embassy. you have no travel record."
he quickly pulled out some papers. "but i'm a general manager, i have good pay, i want to introduce my new wife to my family."
the consul quipped "they all live in the united states, don't they. because of that, and since you don't have any travel experience, you are unqualified to receive a visa."
"but we were going to have our honeymoon this summer. we were going to cyprus and to greece, but the war broke out. now we want to go visit for two weeks, over christmas."
"i'm sorry sir. you are unqualified."
the manager walked away from the stall, and out of the embassy, his wife by his side.
"will ______ come to window 5?"
an old man slouched to the stall. the consul, while typing some notes, demanded "why do you want to go to the states."
"i want to visit."
"who will you visit?"
"my children."
"do you have any immediate family in lebanon."
"no."
"i'm sorry sir, i will not be able to give you a visa."
"will _____ come to window 5?"
a young woman - around her thirties - stands up and walks towards the consul. he does the usual rounds. "why do you want to go to the states?"
she replies "i've been accepted as an assistant professor at _____ in the field of ______."
"what papers from the university do you have with you?"
she hands over a file, and after some back and forth, he concludes "come back and pick up your passport after 3 days."
"will ________ come to window 5?"
an old woman picks up her cane and almost trips on her way to the window. he begins with the usual "why do you want to go to the states?"
"i want to visit my son."
"what family do you have in lebanon?"
"i have a daughter with me."
"i'm sorry, i will not be able to give you a visa."
"why not? i haven't seen my son and his family in 7 years."
"you are unqualified." he pulls out a sheet of paper, and presses it against the pane of glass separating them. his finger traces the phrase "must have sufficient social and economic ties."
she seems tense. "i haven't seen them in 7 years. i tried applying before, but you rejected my application. i have papers here ... from my family ... an invitation."
"i'm sorry. you are unqualified for a visa to the united states of america."
"do you need more papers?"
"i'm sorry. you are unqualified for a visa to the united states of america."
---
picture of the week.
if al-akhbar newspaper is going to be given credit for anything - and there is quite a bit it can be given credit for - it is the silently funny pictures it seems to have on their front-page.
mini-comment: harb and sfeir.
yesterday, boutros harb said that cardinal sfeir should choose the swing minister if the government is updated and expanded into a "new and improved" structure. excluding the notion that this new formula of 19-1-10 (thrown on another heap of failed and ill-fit lebanese formulas that only achieve
short-term stability, as opposed to long-term) already is "odd", it should be stated that harb's suggestion is also "odd." just a mini-comment.
comments.
before the early nbn news today, hajj hussein khalil had a press conference in which he revealed some "letters" concerning saad hariri, hezbollah's weapons, israel, and the summer war. just now, al-moustaqbal replied to the not so implicit accusations. it should be noted that one of the recent strengths - for better or for worse - of the so-called opposition is that it has been able to control the topics within the national discourse. march 14 and the government spend their time
replying to all accusations - true or untrue - as opposed to setting a unique and dominating beat, which just reflects their own weakness as an entity. the opposition has even stolen the word "opposition" - something march 14 had kept solely for themselves. even though they technically stopped being the opposition over a year ago, people like geagea still want to be referred to as the "opposition", as he stated quite explicitly yesterday in a press conference. again, that need is just a reflection of weakness and a lack of long-term strategy. even though such political entities may live day by day, they need to be able to define a thread that ties together days within a certain time window, so that they at least
appear proactive as opposed to simply reactive. it is no surprise that march 14 has not been able to do that.
on another note, please let me know if you have been able to understand anything siniora has said to his seraille groupies in the past 4 - 5 days. i'd like to know if his being cooped up has had an effect on his mental coherence, or if my being jet-lagged is the main reason i'm having trouble with all his speeches.
power to clerics.
i just finished watching part of an early broadcast of nbn news and out of the 20 minutes i watched, 10 of them must have been taken up by the lovely faces and godly comments of religious figures, each of which providing support for various leaders. it's good to see that they are being "elevated" in political circles, since they are the solution to all of lebanon's problems. seriously. i must admit that i have always looked to religious figures for refined guidance and heavenly messages.
ok, that last sentence was a lie. when i was in high school, for a creative english writing class i wrote a short play on a morally and economically corrupt priest - it took place in a confessional - and all the recent
idiocy wisdom handed down to us by these men of god have given me much material that can be used to update that childhood folly. all in good time.
way too much faith.
All we want is a unity government, with or without Siniora. If Sayyed Hassan accepts a unity government with Siniora, then we accept it too. After all, he has our best interests [at heart].
However, I doubt very much our leaders would accept any compromise solutions because they are doing this for our benefit.
"We are against this government because they are not working for the Lebanese," he said. "If Hizbullah was not working for the Lebanese, then we would be against them, and we would be sitting here protesting against them too."
but the one that brought a smile to my face, and one that seems to be echoed by our wonderfully esteemed leaders and citizens, is this:
I really hope that Moussa can give us a solution that will end all the problems in Lebanon.
confused.
michel aoun is adamantly stating that he is anti-corruption, yet he continues to chill with michel murr.
snapshot.
a thesis by anu kulkarni entitled "Demons and Demos: Violence, Memory and Citizenship in Post-Conflict States" (copyright 2005).
another truly fascinating read. a snapshot of the abstract is provided below.
My work poses a fundamental, yet unexplored question in the study of democracy and post-conflict reconstruction: How do past political violence and the ways in which societies address the consequences of repression, war, and large-scale human rights violations affect the development of citizenship in post-conflict democraces?
My research examines the individual and collective effects of deadly conflict and the political dynamics of memory and accountability processes, like truth commissions, and other mechanisms, to formulate a theory of citizenship development in post-conflict democracies. I argue that the emotive, relational and institutional effects of deadly conflict present barriers to individual and collective political expression that remain long after transitions to democracy are implemented. Political passivity is one consequence of fear in populations harmed by extreme violence. Memory and accountability processes, including truth commissions and other mechanisms, contribute to the development of citizenship under some circumstances by creating opportunities for political expression, alleviating some effects of residual fear and mediating political beliefs through the shaping of personal and public memory of violence. But the extent to which they do so is limited by key conditions, especially the degree, intensity and timing of prior violence; the type of conflict; the distribution of power; and the type of agreement that terminates the conflict.
do the themes sound familiar?
fyi.
someone on my msn contact list has the following message after her name:
Apes have invaded downtown!!she is someone, by the way, who prided herself on being educated - both academically and socially ...
so much for that.
tidbits.
it's good to be back. especially when the highways are littered with "
i love life" signs. i love life too, but it's easier to pay for "i love life" signs when a large part of the national debt has gone towards your personal life. dora highway is under renovation, so i guess all the war reconstruction efforts are finished and there were some funds left over. i hope it doesn't take the three plus years the antelias bridge took. today there were two main demonstrations, and i had a chance to pass by the one in beirut. i missed qassem's speech (watched it on TV though), and saw a really original sign (not really) with the phrase "Aoun Propose, Dieu Depose." out of all the signs i did see however, the only one that remotely made any sense wasn't found in either demostration - it was pasted on a building in jal eddib, with the words "to
all colors: feel christmas," or something like that. next time i'm in the area i'll have my camera with me. i had the chance of watching aoun, who was dressed fully in orange, and looked like one too, although my friend likened him to a chick, a description i agreed with. she also thought he looked cute, but who am i to judge. i didn't find his speech cute though. i missed saad hariri's speech, and all the wisdom that came with it, but i did watch ahmad fatfat enjoy his fifteen minutes of glory. i won't pick on him though, especially in light of all the recent references to fatfatism, and will just say that almost all the recent rhetoric i have heard has threads of immaturity, although stating that they are soaked with immaturity may be more correct. it's all very entertaining of course, but the proposed end goals of both are slightly idiotic. if both sides really gave a shit about the country, they would actively seek dialogue, and the ensuing negotiations. if they were two companies enacting a merger, regardless of which one would gain the larger piece of the pie (a merger does not denote equality in representation), such negotiations would last for months. not the two or three sessions like previous hiwar episodes. and not by shouting puerile accusations. taking the analogy further, there does seem to be a slight chance, depending on certain factors, for a third group to provide a slightly differentiated product in order to eventually gain the upper hand, taking advantage of the current standoff by these two gorillas, both of which are wasting energy and time focusing on the other. my mother summed up everything with just two words describing all the political players, which could have been used to replace the above: "niswen elfurun". speaking of my mother, the school she works in had some sports competitions, and the teams were given colored t-shirts. some of the parents didn't like that their children had to wear blue. my brother's friend works in future TV news, and she once went to work wearing orange. now, she hasn't lived in lebanon for long, so i can imagine that was an innocent move on her part, but it suffices to say that her boss was not very happy. this does however mean that i now have a limited wardrobe which i can choose my clothes from. by the way, has anyone counted the number of times "democracy" was used in today's speeches? you'll get a prize. i promise.
has the church spoken again?
apparently, yes. the country is now saved.
seriously now, i have a question that has very little to do with anything. does anyone know of any surveys / research done on the correlation between successful democracies and sustainable economies, using experimental data? what about direction of causality between those two, if it exists? all i've been able to find are theories, but those don't always fit reality's mold. thanks.
also, i won't be posting over the next few days. traveling to lebanon usually does that.
finally, i'll leave you with one of my favorite strips ...
unfortunate masterpiece.
(Armand Homsi - Annahar)
a thought on coexistence.
coexistence is not a meeting between two religious leaders that smile and shake hands and shower flowery words on each other. coexistence is not an alliance between two tribal leaders that were previously part of opposing tribes. coexistence is not tolerance.
coexistence is a social phenomenon. a recognition. an adaptation. a realization. an acceptance. an acknowledgement. and as such, it has to be said that there has been no constructive and conscious and
continuous effort to foster a notion - any notion - of coexistence within today's and yesterday's and tomorrow's generation of lebanese; this is becoming increasingly clear, and recent events are partly a reflection of that. the most unfortunate aspect of all this is that "lebanon" will remain an idea until social paradigms undergo a tectonic shift.
sleiman makes his bid for presidency.
(from the dailystar) Army Commander General Michel Suleiman met with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir Monday to discuss the situation. No details were made public.
(there is a
minor consitutional issue that prevents him from directly running for presidency - but the constitution never stopped anyone before.)
forgive me if i laugh.
the first thing that came to mind when i saw this pic is when i was a young mini-me, and we used to try to pat our head and rub our stomach at the same time. appears sully frangieh is trying to do the same.
(Picture from Al-Akhbar)
letters from 1918.
it has always fascinated me how the elements of unconstructive socio-political discourse rarely change, even within an area barely the size of a chick-pea. such a notion makes one wonder whether we are living within an existential battle - as some would have us believe - or if current events can simply be blurred into another oscillation in the cycle of life. for example, below are two letters sent between two leaders (on the eve of Ottoman defeat in WWI).
change a few nouns here and there. they could've been written today.---
25 September 1918
To the leader of the great Druze army, Sultan Pasha:
I was informed of your message to the villagers [of a list of villages] asking them to join you in Busra Eski Sham with the sharif. You must stop your endless revenge against the Ottoman state. Our noble ancestors were divided between the British and the [Ottoman] state. You must not divide the Druze again. The [people] have rejected and turned away from your furious excesses and outrages.
[If you do not reject revolt,] we will expel you from the community.
Do not be fooled by illusions. You have deceived the people by claiming that Nablus has fallen with 30,000 prisoners. We do not know this.
Before anyone understands what is really happening, you are trying to convince the ignorant Druze to join the 'snuffbox army' of the sharif.
You must know that, if you continue, both your village and your huge army will be destroyed.
We are not disloyal and our ancestors were not disloyal. They were firmly behind the throne of the state in the time of Sultan Salim [against the Mamluks] and during the time of Ibrahim Pasha al-Masri. This was the way of our ancestors: to fortify the besieged; not your way: the way of disloyalty for money and of subverting the feelings of the community. Division is not the way of our ancestors.
Salim al-Atrash
---
Sultan al-Atrash replied the following day.
---
26 September 1918
To the leader of the Turkish army, Salim Pasha al-Atrash:
Today I was informed of your fraudulent letter, which was dictated to you by the Turks. I wanted to answer every bit, but my time is too valuable to permit it, especially since you commemorate the dying Turkish state and describe it using words that even the [state's servants] do not themselves use, since they admit the state's impotence.
As for your charges, honoured cousin, it is not we who are disloyal. We have not dined at the Damascus Palace Hotel or entered the garden of the municipal
saray. And we have not met any Turk, the murderers of our fathers, and those who disgraced our country.
Read the poems of your grandfather, Shibli, [that] great man of the Druze, who is calling you from his tomb and who told you that you must arm yourself against your enemy, [not against] your friend, and take caution with the treacherous and tyrannical Turks.
We declare a sacred war against the starving remnants of the Turkish army. We advise you to be wise enough to save your remorse. It will not help.
The news that we heard of the fall of Nablus and the victory in Tiberias is [that they cam] at the hand of the state of the world, the master of the seas, Great Britain, our old friend.
As far as the destruction of our community (
ta'ifat al-Duruz) is concerned, this news [from Nablus] is reality; it is not news manufactured in Germany or by Ottoman intelligence. It is accurate information.
If you desire the greatest air force in the world, we can deliver it to you. As for the wireless and the telephone, and all of the most advanced means of communication, they are at our disposal because ours is the faction of God. Praise God, the exalted master of all.
As for your debased Turks, '
Malta yok,' in other words, everything they [offer] is lacking, even bread. In the name of our noble family, I will not depart from the way [of our ancestors].
As for the 'snuffbox army,' it is your army that is [a snuffbox army]. Now we are aligned with the great state [of Britain], which rules the mutasarrif of Hawran.
God willing, we will be good heirs to our ancestors and we will protect the honour of the Druze and their future; and we will not allow them to be trampled upon, as you wish to put them under the boot of the most savage state on earth.
Your cousin,
Sultan al-Atrash
---
book recommendation.
so i don't really mention books here (you know, because it's uncool for a lebanese to claim he reads) ... although i may have quoted a few when they fit with my "worldview".
anyways,
this is one i've just finished, and which i have found quite interesting. i recommend it those interested in such topics - of course, it may be advisable to check your local library first.
random memory.
i had a chance to play the
nintendo wii today (hey, it's not my fault i have a 13 year old cousin who worships consoles).
i'm in shock. it's fanbloodytastic. i must have spent all afternoon swinging the remote back and forth. it's moments like this that using certain colloquial lebanese phrases (which include body parts) is the best way to express adulation (sorry, it just looks really vulgar when written).
as a child, i never really liked the sega machine, never had a gameboy (and didn't enjoy it to begin with since it was b&w), was a master of Atari, and then got introduced to a nintendo knockoff (called pegasus, which i think was a japanese version) that another cousin of mine had. most memories including super mario brothers and other games are blurred, except for one ...
---
... this was early 90's, and i was spending a few weeks of summer at my cuz's house in aajaltoun. we were playing super mario bros. III, and we knew where the shortcuts were, how to skip worlds, when to jump, yada yada yada - in short, this was something we had spent so much time playing that we were mario and luigi.
then, one day, we reached the 8th world (out of 8), had almost reached the end (something we hadn't done together while playing it as a two-player game), and we were excited.
and then ... (drum roll) ... the electricity got cut.
---
it was a traumatic experience.
---
comments.
comment 1: obviously, i was wrong with my last post yesterday; it was just pathetic paranoia.
comment 2: michel aoun.
so much to say, and so little time; i'll try to keep this short. although the media which has commented on the demonstration today obviously left out many of his comments (of course, the lfpm forum makes up for that by containing his entire speech), it is again clear that aoun is not a solution, because he does not offer any means to an end. so the corrupt government has to go, and some need to be held accountable. i do not disagree, as i've stated time and time again. of course, aoun has granted himself a carte blanche for not being in the country for 15 years, but this is only because he has perpetuated the false notion that accountability only matters in the time after he had left. by pushing back this self-created limit a few years, aoun can himself be held accountable. conclusion? sweep him out with the rest of the others. some dream of seeing their communal leader be ruler of lebanon; i dream of a noah's arc like structure, which contains all these failed politicians, sailing off into the sunset.
the thing is, although it is easy for a populist to shout slogans and rally a group of supporters, it is becoming increasingly clear that aoun has failed to really map out a viable and individual path for himself. i.e. he has failed to map out a strategy that relates his "strengths" to the "better lebanon" he claims to seek. as borat would have said in reply to aoun's speech, "issa nice. how much?"
in this case,
how much longer will we have to deal with such demi-gods across this currently bipolar specturm of one-dimensional rhetoric (i hesitate to use the word demagogue, but perhaps it is more apt). aounists and jumblattists and geageaists have created a saint paul out of their leaders; they once have sinned, but changed their ways when they saw the light. conjuring up such romantic tales makes for great bedtime stories, but it must be noted that this country has been put on hold for quite some time. i have no idea when this will change, but most probably not before such leaders either die or are kicked off their pedastals. (of course, it would be naive to just blame such "leaders," as there is a destructive social culture that propagates such romanticism in terms of myths and legends.)
the point of this comment is not to just criticize aoun, although plainly it is one of the points. the main point of this is to suggest - this is only a suggestion as i have not given an argument - that the solution is not with aoun, or with jumblatt, et al.
it is with us. are we up to the task? i don't know.
comment 3: there is way too much historical revisionism going on. it's really beginning to bug me.
comment 4: something about this line in a CNN article fascinated me on so many levels (ok, not really), but i just can't put my finger on why that is.
Lebanon, a polyglot nation, has been held together since the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s by a Syrian occupation that ended after massive protests following Hariri's assassination.
comment 5: have a nice weekend.
