October 14th

This article caught my attention. You should see the different view points that are expressed around the world. From Zimbabwe, China, Bahrain, to the U.S. itself. Now I'm not an idiot and I know you aren't, the US Ambassador to Zimbabwe was up to something, but Mugabe is a tin pot dictator.

This lead me to start thinking about dictators and their effect on man kinds history. People should know of the twentieth centuries great dictators like Hitler, Stalin, and maybe Pol Pot.

A lot of people don't like the war in Iraq, I don't support it myself but Saddam Hussein was a dictator who came to power and took over completely. Do you remember dictators like President for life of Uganda Idi Amin leading to Entebbe Rescue Operation, or Papa Doc Duvalier, he and his family ruled Haiti for almost thirty years. These men only cover a few of the Twentieth centuries dictators/self proclaimed Kings or Leader for Life.

The name dictator in the classical Greek or Roman time meant something totally different - they elected a person to protect them in a time of emergency. Roman Dictators like Gaius Marius or Sulla changed the direction of not only Roman history but western civilization also. Without Gaius we would never of had Julius Ceaser. Without Ceaser would never of had Romanized Britain, without Great Britain we would never of had Anglo North American culture that for better or for worse is dominating the world at this time. I'm not trying to say that these despots are good for man or history/future history, but that their affects will and do reverberate through time. Who's to say that in during the dark ages the ancestors of the House of Windsor weren't just the equivalent of a outlaw motorcycle gang

We as Capitalistic Democracies have to be so careful of who we elect lead our countries, the cult of personality can influence how people vote so easily. Just a few steps either left or right can lead a nation/culture to some type of dictatorship.

I guess this is my way of saying its better to be non partisan or a fence sitter.

Have a great weekend.. going north to close the cottage.