Political Excuses

I am frequently numb to the words of politicians. Being an equal opportunity skeptic, I have a healthy distrust for both major parties in this country. It may be unfair, but before the first word spews forth I assume that what they are saying is somewhere between manipulative and dishonest.  At the end of the day, their only real interest is in maintaining their own jobs and maximizing air time.  

All of this said  It wasn’t one of our own politicians who uttered the most ridiculous excuse this week.  Moussa Dadis Camara is the leader of Guinea, and clearly has yet to master the art of constructing the teflon coated statement of non-accountability that our own politicians display with such dubious accomplishment.  

Tragically, the people of Guinea are far too accustomed to repressive leaders and an unstable government that keeps the population sentenced to lives of poverty and violence.  This last week brought about another sad incident where the military turned its guns on the public leaving over 150 citizens dead and many more injured.  What brought about this latest incident was the all too common starting point of hundreds of heavily armed young men with no direction.  Camara was scheduled to be at the event, and acknowledging his complete control over the military, this disaster seems to be one that could have been easily avoided.  Unfortunately, he wasn’t in attendance and the soldiers were left to their own devices - which the opposition claims appeared to be very carefully orchestrated.

Then came the obligatory official administration response intended to demonstrate that the new leader had no culpability in the incident.  For all of us that loathe the political public relations advisors that endlessly parade across the television and specialize in sculpting every word that comes from our own leaders, it became apparent why they are a necessary ingredient of the political machine. Camara addressed the media with what he believed was a reasonable alibi for not being at the rally to control his troops; he had lost the keys to his truck.  

People died because he couldn’t find his keys? On second thought, does the president/king/emperor/leader/whatever of this country really drive his own truck to events?  Did he honestly think that anyone would buy this?

The sobering reality is that in countries rich and poor, large and small, leaders make decisions that kill people.  In some cases, it is just done less eloquently.  

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