TNR END-OF-YEAR DESPOT WINNER!

TNR ONLINE'S DESPOT OF THE YEAR AWARD.
Politically Incorrect BRUTAL HONESTY?

First of all, I'd put Vladimir Putin as MOST PROMISING PROSPECT for Major League New York Yankee-level Despotism.

I'd give one of those Jean Hersholt-in-reverse Awards to Castro for unmitigated evil.

And what about Genocidal Chief Omar al Bashir in the Sudan for Honorable Mention?

Or Oaf-in-Chief of Syria Bashar Al-Assad?

Or Populist Moron-in-Chief Hugo Chavez in Venezuela?

Syrian Cat’s-Paw/Stooge-in-chief Ernile Lahoud in Lebanon for the Quisling Award?

Up-and-Coming Evo Morales in Bolivia? Hasn't had a chance yet.

The Venality-in-Chief All-Time Champ Yasser Arafat is gone now!

Brutal Honesty
by T. A. Frank
[What is "Today in Despotism?"]

Since inaugurating the "Today in Despotism" series earlier this year, TNR Online has chronicled the activities of a number of strongmen. Some are old, some are young; some are religious, some are atheist; some are called "Guide of the First of September Great Revolution of the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya"; others are called "Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, and Chairman of the National Defense Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea." But while countries around the world may have differences, the hopes and dreams of their despotic rulers are shared. It's why Libya celebrates the anniversary of a book by Muammar Qaddafi and North Korea celebrates the anniversary of a book by Kim Jong Il. And so TNR Online is issuing a Despot of the Year Award in an attempt to give a proper nod to outstanding despotic achievements. Ideally, this award would merely reflect the popular will of the rulers' subjects, but, as Donald Rumsfeld once pointed out in a moment of reflection, sometimes that's hard to figure out. "It's awfully hard to know," he said. "In fact, it's impossible to know unless one just speculates. I don't know how many people who live in an exceedingly repressive regime actually like it."

Honorable Mentions

Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe. For orchestrating his own reelection and for his program to forcibly relocate thousands of urban slum dwellers to camps in the barren countryside.

Than Shwe, Burma. For his campaign to guard against Burma's destruction through the united strength of the people.

Fidel Castro, Cuba. For nearly five decades of service.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran. For getting right down to business after his rigged election. Goodbye, Western music. Hello, nukes. And Holocaust--what Holocaust?

Finalists

Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus. Lukashenko, in power for only 11 years, runs one of the youngest despotic regimes in the trade and has built it almost entirely on his own. Drawing on sheer willpower and a dream of undoing any and all reforms that briefly threatened his nation in the early 1990s, Lukashenko has worked tirelessly to preserve, and even revive, Soviet traditions. This year has been an impressive one for the leader. As always, he has spoken out strongly in favor of grain: "There should be no desperation and pessimism. Only good mood. The country will have grain!" And the Olympics: "It is impossible to see what has become of our handball, basketball, volleyball. We can not even win a license to go to the Olympic Games. What kind of a country's handball tournament is it if there are only four teams?" But his achievements go beyond the rhetorical. When Belarusian protesters assembled in March in hopes of imitating Ukraine's Orange Revolution, Lukashenko responded generously with beatings. When the country's ethnic Poles complained of harassment, Lukashenko took pains to have the police storm the office of an ethnic Polish organization. When the regime began to face hints of internal dissent, Lukashenko seized the day and pushed through a parliamentary ban on criticism. (Organizing protests or speaking against the national interest now carries a three-year prison sentence.) He has also announced his intention to run for president again, and he feels the opposition has little to offer: "They are not ready to rule the country." Let them rule when they have 11 years of despotic experience.

Conclusion. If Lukashenko keeps up his current pace, he'll become a strong contender in future years. Still, additional crackdowns will be required to claim the top prize.

Muammar Qaddafi, Libya. Fidel Castro often draws admiration for the length of his reign, but Muammar Qaddafi seldom receives similar credit, even though he has ruled Libya for three and a half decades. Although 2005 hasn't been as eventful for Libya as other years, Qaddafi is an open-minded man, and no one ever knows quite what to expect from him next. This year, Qaddafi cut deals with oil companies, hosted an African Union summit, and gave an interview to Time magazine in which he reminded readers that "Libyans are in paradise." The colonel has remained steadfast in the case of five Bulgarian nurses who were arrested in 1999 and accused of working on behalf of the CIA and the Mossad to spread AIDS among Libyan children. Found guilty, the nurses (and a Palestinian physician) have been condemned to the firing squad. Although some have asserted that poor hygiene in Libyan hospitals was a more likely culprit, Qaddafi has stood by his convictions, asking, "How can we free the murderers of children?" Ever unpredictable, in January the colonel permitted a rock band called The Heavenly States to be the first American band to play in Libya since he took power. Well, sort of. When the band arrived, the scheduled shows didn't really materialize, but its members did get a chance to see Libya. (And they also ended up doing a basement show at the home of an employee of the British consulate.)

Conclusion. On the strength of sheer staying power, Qaddafi was a near miss for the top award; but he'll have plenty of chances in the future. As he said earlier this year: "Elections? What for? We have surpassed that stage you are presently in. All the people are in power now." Sounds pretty good to us.

Winner

Kim Jong Il, North Korea. North Korea's leader takes top honors this year. It hardly seems fair since, with Kim in the running, no one else will ever have a chance. Nevertheless, despotism is despotism, and Kim has amassed a record that aspiring dictators can only envy. From nuclear proliferation to famine, Kim has dotted all of his "i"s and crossed all of his "t"s in the classics of tyranny. Kim oversaw nuclear weapons negotiations this year, agreeing to conditions under which he would begin to dismantle his weapons. A day later, North Korea announced that the deal was off unless the country could first have a light-water reactor. When summer rolled around, Kim sent millions of city dwellers into the countryside to transplant rice. And Kim also prepared to groom his own sons as successors. Meanwhile, his commitment to innovation in despotic rhetoric has not faltered--at least if the pronouncements of the North Korean news agency can be taken as evidence. A few highlights from the past year:

Cheney is hated as the most cruel monster and bloodthirsty beast, as he has drenched various parts of the world in blood. (June)

Japan is so mean, despicable and wicked that it is not the country which the DPRK can deal with anywhere. (July)

Japan's attempt to buy a responsible position at the UN is little short of a clumsy bid of an illiterate country peddler bereft of any reason and people's mindset. (October)

And the quote that put North Korea over the top, from this past June:

The chief executive of the United States was reported to have met daily Chosun Ilbo journalist Kang Chol-hwan, an alleged defector from the North, at the White House on 15 June and talked about "human rights situation" in the DPRK.

Explicitly speaking, we do not know such word as "defector".

If there be any, they are just a handful of hooligans and criminals who are not in a position to look up at the clear blue sky over the country with an easy mind for the crimes committed against it and its people.

It is hard to expect to hear anything from such human scum and we, therefore, do not care at all about whatever nonsense they talk.

Given the fact that the chief executive of the world's only "superpower" did sit face to face with such a human trash and conferred with him over "human rights performance" and other "serious matters", it is not hard to guess the political level and stature of the present US administration.

The prize is a free subscription to TNR Online. Kim or his representatives should kindly write to receive details: online@tnr.com, attn: human trash/human scum.

ALTHOUGH ANYONE WHO READ MICHAEL J. TOTTEN'S LA WEEKLY ARTICLE [SEE MY BLOG TWO DAYS AGO] ON LIBYA MUST AGREE TO GIVE QADDAFI THE BIGGEST-FOOL-IN THE WORLD AWARD, KIM JUNG-IL IS A RUNNER-UP FOOL AS WELL AS MOST DESPICABLE DESPOT-IN-THE-WORLD.

CASTRO AND KIM JUNG-IL ARE THE TWO POSTER BOYS OF WORLD MARXISM ON THE MARCH!