The worst person in the world...really
The thug who runs Burma
The worst person in the world...really
Apologies to Keith Olbermann for the headline, but the people who regularly top his list -- Bill-O, Ann Coulter, etc. -- can't compare to this hideous thug: Than Shwe, the leading dictator of Burma, who is now starving his own people to death:
Welcome to the world of General Than Shwe - nicknamed, in muted whispers, the 'Bulldog'. Alliances in the tight circle surrounding him are oiled by money, influence and business opportunities, including arms and heroin dealing, and defined by paranoia, self-enrichment and astrology.
Than Shwe, 74, in power since 1992, is famed in Burma for his megalomania. The junta's bunker capital, Naypyidaw - 'The King's Place' - was built on the advice of his astrologer. A common rumour - exiles and dissidents paint the picture of a mad despot - is that the superstitious Than Shwe believes he is a Buddha. He commissioned a Buddha statue, whose face is uncannily like his own, which stands in Rangoon's most sacred pagoda, Shwedagon, where opposition activists go to venerate Aung San Suu Kyi.
But it was last year's extravagant wedding of Than Shwe's daughter that offered his subjects a rare glimpse inside this secretive world. A video was leaked onto the internet, showing a well-fed Thandar Shwe, perspiring under the weight of diamond-encrusted necklaces and hairbands and swathed in yards of silk as plump junta members sat on gold-trimmed chairs in front of a five-tiered wedding cake and champagne. For the Burmese, who struggle to find basic foodstuffs, the lavishness of the scene seemed surreal.
Until now, the thing that Than Shwe had going in his favor that few people outside Burma were paying attention. Unfortunately it's taken the tragic death of tens of thousands of his subjects, but that's not true anymore. In the wake of Saturday's deadly cyclone, Than Shwe and his thug regime are not only blocking more foreign aid workers -- including America, which already had relief ships in the region on a training exercise -- but even went so far as to hijack the first shipment that reached the country.
Now, some are wondering if Burma's military junta can survive. Undoubtedly, regime change would be a good thing -- except that the price is unspeakable.
UPDATE: Adding here the video of the lavish wedding he threw his daughter while the Burmese people suffer in poverty and repression:
if the UN was worth the building it resides in they would do something to immediately depose this regime. This is not a job for the US. the UN was made for things like this. I'm against the US involving itself in the affairs of foreign countries unless they pose a direct and immediate threat to our national security. Iraq certainly did not, and neither does burma. therefore its none of our business, but the United Abomination needs to prove the world that it is worth something. this regime is a million times worse than Saddam at his very worst— Ryan- More people will read about the "Worst Person in the World" reference to Olbermann on this blog than will watch the man's program.— PhilaRocks
Comment removed.
Hey Wire, you know citizens who are being denied health care? I don't believe you. I think you're lying. I think you have no idea what you're talking about. I also think you're hopelessly uninformed. Election fraud? Can you be more specific? 100,000 Iraqis dead? Are you serious? And, no kidding, do you really watch Olbermann?— ocjones- Worst person in the world...whoever was responsible for making the decision to change to this new format on Philly.com. Or it could have been General Than Shwe.— jimmymack
- Poor Myanmar... I Have driven by San Su Kyi House in Yangon her front yard are nice not oppulent. The country is so Poor reminds me of a British version of French Haiti.. The saddest Part is How the Junta abuse the Karen Tribe of People I wonder if it is because they are catholic? The Corruption is the worse I have seen it anywhere..in the entire world!Worse than Indonesia I wonder who is helping them out side the Catholic Parishes inside this Country! Where is Asean?? pray for All The People..and the Junta may find mercy!— Philly-d-kidder
- The Myanmar government represents the extreme endpoint of the very same path bush and his gang of thugs are leading us down. The mentality is identical; the degree and the means are different - for now.— MarkInOhio
- Comment removed.
- Two of McCains aides resigned over the weekend because they were members of a firm, DCI, who lobbied ON BEHALF of Myanmar's military junta. What a maverick!— RG
- Dear LJL: RE: "Less votes you have to fudge, or hide. Fewer elections to fix. If BushCo could figure out how to make it happen here, they would..." Actually, normal Americans are more concerned that such things will happen under an Obama Administration. Look no further than how Philadelphia fared under the Goode and Street administrations. These are simply miniature copies of what lies ahead should Obama win the election. Now, to speak to the issue at hand, Will's statement that "this hideous thug: Than Shwe, the leading dictator of Burma, who is now starving his own people to death" is too simplistic. Whatever his demerits as a leader are, it is quite a stretch to claim he is starving his own people to death. What Will does not know (and what lefties will never understand) is that Burmese culture prides itself on individual self-reliance. I submit that the actions of Gen. Shwe are more the reflection of this sentiment coupled with national pride, that is, Myanmar will pull itself up by its own bootstraps, than with thuggishness. But I guess in the left's view of the world, any government (by definition) that does not seek to interfere in all aspects of everyone's lives (for their own benefit, of course) is thuggish and murderous.— George Tomezsko
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