Death to the people, power to the junta
By Michael J.W. Stickings
Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma, but, for the totalitarians, the brutalization continues, with the military blocking foreign aid and relief workers from entering the country and reaching the areas hit by the storm, stealing food, and otherwise doing little (and nothing) to help the estimated 2.5 million people affected by the storm (with another one on the way).
Oh, and did you know that, with all this going on, they held a referendum on Saturday?
No joke.
Here's the Breaking News:
Yes, that's right, the totalitarians forced through a new constitution that effectively cements their hold on power -- and they did so through a sham of a referendum that was held as the country was dealing with the aftermath of a horrible natural disaster that may have killed as many as 128,000 people (Red Cross estimate) and that wasn't held in one-third of the country.
And it's a constitution that was drafted by the totalitarians themselves (and that has been sharply criticized around the world).
No wonder it received 92.4% of the vote. I'm sure the referendum was as "democratic" as any of the votes in the "democratic" Soviet Bloc satellites of Eastern Europe during the Cold War.
Vote Yes... or else.
Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma, but, for the totalitarians, the brutalization continues, with the military blocking foreign aid and relief workers from entering the country and reaching the areas hit by the storm, stealing food, and otherwise doing little (and nothing) to help the estimated 2.5 million people affected by the storm (with another one on the way).
Oh, and did you know that, with all this going on, they held a referendum on Saturday?
No joke.
Here's the Breaking News:
A new constitution proposed by Burma's military government has been overwhelmingly approved in a referendum, state media say.
Some 92.4% voted yes to the changes in a vote on Saturday.
The referendum was held in two-thirds of the country, but was postponed for two weeks in areas hit by the cyclone.
The constitution enshrines the junta's hold on power and excludes the main opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, from office.
Yes, that's right, the totalitarians forced through a new constitution that effectively cements their hold on power -- and they did so through a sham of a referendum that was held as the country was dealing with the aftermath of a horrible natural disaster that may have killed as many as 128,000 people (Red Cross estimate) and that wasn't held in one-third of the country.
And it's a constitution that was drafted by the totalitarians themselves (and that has been sharply criticized around the world).
No wonder it received 92.4% of the vote. I'm sure the referendum was as "democratic" as any of the votes in the "democratic" Soviet Bloc satellites of Eastern Europe during the Cold War.
Vote Yes... or else.
Labels: Asia, Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma, constitutions, natural disasters, referendums, totalitarianism
posted by Michael J.W. Stickings at
11:45 AM
2 Comments:
Boy, are you good! Post after post after post with 0 or 1 comment(s) at best. I think you just love to hear yourself "talk" and have utterly no interest in anything anybody else has to say. And if our next President is Obama, we'll have the same phenomenon in the White House!
By
Anonymous, at 12:44 PM
What, are you a member of the junta? Or otherwise an apologist for the totalitarians?
Look, if you don't like what we do here, piss off. If you think that the only blogs worth reading are the ones with long comment threads, that's your problem. We have pretty good readership here, and we all work hard at it.
So, yeah, fuck off.
By
Michael J.W. Stickings, at 9:40 PM
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