Bloggledygook

What's Next For Kyrgyzstan?

Veronica Khokhlova, noting that the overthrow of the Kyrgyz government isn't getting the same respect as other recent revolutions writes:

I don't think the Kyrgyz should be either more pessimistic or more optimistic about the future than we, Ukrainians, or the Georgians are: our new leaders haven't descended from heaven, either. And the way the Kyrgyz seem to fit into "the paradigm du jour" is this: just like Georgians and Ukrainians, they have shown their leaders - both old and new - that they're capable of dissent, and that it's safer not to try their patience for too long. And, hopefully, something good will eventually come out of it all.

Yes. Having witnessed the cause and effect of people power, new and emerging leaders should take it to heart that they are not given dispensation in government dealings. Those who protested in the face of real danger aren't about to trade one tyrant for another. For instance, we are seeing Yushchenko's feet being held to the fire to make good on his promises. His honeymoon was shorter than Britney Spears' last one. No he has to get down to making the marriage work.

The transition from oligarchy to democracy is indeed fraught with missteps and backsliding. Some newly elected leaders (Vladimir Putin) see an election as a way of legitimizing a new dictatorship. History is filled with sham elections and failed revolutions. Governments that follow on revolution have the dual responsibilities of competency and accountability. The new government must work, and work for the people, but also must fight the temptation to make excuses for its failures.

It is not enough to make good government. Leaders must make government open to the will of those who elected it.

Wolfowitz Confirmed.

The board of the World Bank has approved the nomination of Paul Wolfowitz to become its president. This is good news. I have reservations about the effectiveness of the Bank and have tended to view its operations as punitive to emerging economies and as a front for developed nations' interests.

Wolfowitz, neocon that he is, is much more idealistic than outgoing President James Wolfensohn and brings with him a long career of supporting economic growth and democratic reform.

That said, reforming the Bank will prove very difficult, if at all possible. He is likely to be stymied on many initiatives. The World Bank's mandate is to alleviate poverty, not act in the financial interests of western economies. We will soon see if Mr. Wolfowitz is the small-d democrat that his supporters say he is.

Battle For Belarus.

In March of 1997, Peter Byrne, now of the Kyiv Post, then the executive director of the Belarusian Soros Foundation (BSF), was detained by Belarus authorities, held for 12 hours and deported to Frankfurt.

The pretext for Mr. Byrne's expulsion -- that he was ineligible to enter Belarus because of alleged 'illegal' activity -- is indicative of the government's assaults on Belarus's embryonic civil society. The office that Mr. Byrne heads supports democratic reforms, independent media, culture and education. As a member of the OSCE, Belarus has repeatedly violated the commitments it has made to promote the very activities in which Mr. Byrne was engaged.

Immediately upon deporting Byrne, President Lukashenko announced that he was instituting an investigation of all NGOs at work in Belarus. At the time, BSF was engaged in various humanitarian, civil-society and democratic activities. It was among the largest, if not the largest foundation working to bring Belarus out of the black cloud of post-Soviet confusion. [Note: I don't want to get into a discussion about Mr. Soros' recent political activity. What I am writing here is the truth, like it or not. The Soros Foundations have done a lot of good work.]

Terri Schiavo

is dead.

Insty Passes 100,000,000.

And while I'm handing out kudos ('cause that's what I do. I am the Kudo Master!), Glenn Reynolds passed the 100,000,000 page view mark a while back. Get that number: one hundred million. The fact that so few noticed (even he did) illustrates how ubiquitous and essential he has become. Congrats to Glenn.

Chrenkoff Turns 1.

Arthur Chrenkoff celebrates his first anniversary of blogging the light fantastic. It's amazing what he has accomplished in a year, racking up some impressive numbers but more importantly, doing some very high-caliber work. Congratulations, Arthur!

Winnie The Powell And The Blustery Day.

Former Secretary of State Winnie the Powell today pronounced the pre-war rhetoric coming from the White House "too blustery." Speaking to Stern Magazine after a nice mid-afternoon honey-dip Powell said that he supposed that the US was sometimes "too loud, too direct..." Presumably, quiet and circumspect would have carried the day. There's a beehive metaphor busting to get out also. You know the one. The simple-minded preznet approaches the hive, licking his lips just thinking about the sweet black honey only to get his snout stung once the hive is disturbed. "Should have left that beehive alone, silly bear," says Christopher (Robin) Dodd.

Okay enough of that. I have nothing against Powell other than he struck me as being too much of a diplomat when I would have preferred a warrior, which he was for most of his storied career. Just sort-of apologizing for his president makes him look a little too eager to please his audience.

Wouldn't now have been a great opportunity to say something like, "You know, I had to play the role of good cop when I was running the State Department. Somebody had to, and it came down to me. But now that I am a private citizen and I no longer speak for the government, let me just say that the German and French governments acted like a couple of spoiled children in the lead up to the war. Actually, the Chirac government was the spoiled one--and now we know why, with all that's coming out about Saddam's payoff--Berlin was merely Paris' toady. And look what it got you.

"You people are running around trying to get a sloppy, badly written constitution passed while your cities are under siege from a radical Islamist insurgency that you refuse to acknowledge or confront. Meanwhile, America, along with Great Britain, God bless her, has taken on the task of ridding the world of the very same scourge that threatens your continent and I have to come hat-in-hand to ask your country for some measly support? We weren't about to actually expect help, because your military has been gutted beyond recognition to make way for the welfare state, so all we were asking for was a bit of lip service. And what do we get? The back of the hand from the French, who incidentally, we saved from the Germans. And after rebuilding Germany, which, let's face it didn't really deserve it, your guy goes over and kisses the buttocks of that smarmy ex-mayor of Paris! You people make me sick.

"And don't get me started on WMDs. You are to blame for that snafu, not me. If a dirty bomb or chemical whatchamacallit explodes in Frankfurt don't be surprised if it turns out that it came from Saddam's old stockpile, which just happened to be buried somewhere in the Bekaa Valley while you and Jackie were stalling for time.

"Now if you will excuse me, I have wasted enough time sitting in front of you craven idiots."

Or something like that.

How About A President Svengali?

Keep you eyes on the watch. Your eyes are getting very heavy. Veeerrryyy Heaaavvvyy:

A hypnotist has been blamed for starting a violent revolution in Kyrgyzstan.

Dr Jenishbek Nasaraliev put up posters in the capital Bishkek with the words'Daddy, don't drink' to drum up business for his clinic.

But government officials feared they were a reference to President Askar Akayev's alleged alcohol problem and had them removed.

In protest thousands took to the streets accusing the government of censorship, and the violent clashes that ensued led to the collapse of the government.

Some Russian media even accused Dr Nasaraliev of hypnotising the masses into staging the violent revolt that has plunged the region into chaos.

In related news, Vice President Bullwinkle was arrested after failing to pull a rabbit out of his hat.

Everybody Wangchuk Tonight.

Bhutan's King Jigme Singye Wangchuk (which wins this week's Best Name in Democratic Revolutions Prize) is circulating a draft constitution--in the works since 2001--establishing a democracy:

The constitution would provide for two houses of parliament — a 75-member National Assembly and a 25-member National Council. King Jigme Singye Wangchuck would become head of state, but parliament could impeach him by a two-thirds vote, said Kinley Dorji, editor of the Kuensel newspaper.

The constitution sets the king's retirement age at 65; establishes a parliament, a two-party system and a list of 21 fundamental rights including free speech and press and the right to privacy. It essentially establishes a constitutional monarchy, yet includes provisions for the king's removal:

King Jigme Singye Wangchuk, who became king in 1972, has opted—by prevalent standards in his kingdom—for a fairly liberal approach through a Constitution that allows the monarch to proclaim emergency on the ‘‘written advice’’ of the Prime Minister. But this has to be cleared by a two-thirds majority of Parliament within 21 days of its first meeting after such a proclamation.

The Constitution also caters for a process to remove a monarch. However, this can be done only if the King is perceived to have flouted the Constitution or suffers from any permanent mental disability. He is otherwise exempt from being answerable in any court of law as his actions and person shall be ‘‘sacrosanct’’.

On any of the two grounds for removal of the king, a motion has to be passed by a three-fourths majority in a joint session of Parliament. This will be followed by a national referendum where the resolution must obtain a simple majority for the King to abdicate in favour of the heir apparent.

I have friends who spent some time in Bhutan last year and pronounced the visit to be the most "transforming experience" of their lives. In the past visitors could only enter Bhutan by invitation from the king. Recently, however, tourism has become a growing business. Not that there will be esavers to Thimphu any time soon. These trips are for the well-healed only for now. The government requires tourists to spend $250 a day. Of course, that's just an average week around the Bloggledygook household.

The constitution will be studied and voted on by the entire adult population over the next two years--things move at their own pace in that part of the world--but officials are confident that it will pass.

Bhutan is a small kingdom of about 700,000 with a monarchy that goes back to the days of the British Raj in India. The king will be 60 next year and seems desirous of making a lasting mark on his country. The influence of India cannot be overstated; many Bhutanese are educated in India and bring back with themIndian style, food and culture. Politically, the tiny country has chosen to align with India rather than with China. Which probably accounts for the democratic leanings of the monarch.

This is in sharp contrast to the actions of Nepalese King Gyanendra who recently seized power and threw out the democratically elected parliament. King Wangchuk, at least in comparison and possibly in real practice, seem to have established himself as yet another democrat who has felt the winds of changed and welcomed them in to his country.

Let's congratulate the Bhutanese people, offer our help and goodwill and toast democracy's newest hero.

(Thanks, Maggie, for the heads-up).

UPDATE: Welcome Instapeople. TypePad is having some issues, so if you're seeing a stripped-down version, try reloading and see what happens. Thanks, Glenn, for the link.

Jesse To The Rescue.

Normally, I would view Jesse Jackson's presence at any particular crisis with skepticism and sarcasm. What is his motive this time? Where's the money, etc.

But this time I am willing to take him at his word. I honestly don't care what his motivation is, although I can guess. If nothing, Jackson is a prickly, sensitive politician and I have the suspicion that he realizes that the Dems may have set their foot wrong on this issue. There is some speculation that the Clinton machine had put out the edict to stay away from the Schiavo case which may have been a mistake. Jackson may be making a play here, but I don't think so. The family had asked him to come and from accounts his visit today gave them some comfort.

Too often we sentence our political opponents to the netherworld of Always Wrong. This is shortsighted and not very realistic. People are rarely always good or always evil. I think Jackson is doing something, for now, that he really believes in, maybe for the first time in a long time.

I think, however, that he is too late. Terri must be in the final stages and I don't know at this point what can be accomplished other than a symbolic gesture. Terri is being used and abused and Jackson may only be contributing, albeit with the best of intentions, to the family's suffering.

I have not been particularly articulate about this story and I'm having a hard time figuring out what the point is. Giving morphine to a person who is supposed to be unable to feel anything smacks of a cynical and disgusting ploy to either suppress her death throes or hasten the inevitable.

George Felos, sooner or later you're going to end up just like Johnnie Cochran.