The Dead Dictator

The Dead Dictator

Turkmenistan's president Saparmurat Niyazov has died.

From outside the thing, there's something truly absurd and almost entertaining about this guy. And I'll admit to reading about his exploits and being entertained in a grotesque kind of way. Like this paragraph, from CNN's blurb:

He ordered the months and days of the week named after himself and his family, and statues of him were erected throughout the nation. He is listed as author of the "Rukhnama" (Book of the Soul) that was required reading in schools. Children pledged allegiance to him every morning.

Like I said. There's something grotesquely entertaining about that. There's something oddly appealing about a guy who has the balls to change the names of the days of the week, naming them after himself.

Then you remember that this is real life and he's run one of the most repressive, domineering and backward thinking regimes in recent memory, and that no one person has the right to place his beliefs over any other, let alone an entire country of people, and you say to yourself "I'm glad the bastard's dead."