Even here in Belgrade it is hard to escape the ongoing saga of "The
Stand-off in Florida" "The Countdown to the Recount" "The Florida Vote" or
whatever CNN is deciding to call it today. It's on TV. It's in the papers.
And flipping around the satellite, I hear about it in German, Spanish and a
half dozen other languages. Now that Slobodan Milosevic is gone from the
political scene here for the time being, things have gotten a little boring.
So I admit I have had a bit too much time on my hands. But just this morning
I was thinking: What if George W. Bush was Slobodan Milosevic's son?
Imagine if the media in the US covered this whole saga the way they handled
Slobo. Here's how it looks through the lens the corporate media reserve for
those "undemocratic" places like Serbia...
George W. Bush comes from a powerful, ruling elite family. His father was a
ruthless leader, former head of the "brutal and feared" (We like that
phrase for people like Milosevic) CIA. As President of the US and Commander
in Chief of the Armed Forces, he "mercilessly" bombed Iraq back to the stone
age and kicked into process the ethnic cleansing of more than a million
Iraqi's. He was voted out of office and can't really run for president
again, so he has sonny sit in. But the "clever maneuverer" (We like that
phrase for people like Milosevic) he is, Bush Sr. places all of his old war
buddies around sonny. W's new "cronies"--his "inner circle" are like a
reunion of the war crimes tribunal that never was. Dick Cheney, Colin
Powell, James Baker. It seemed the Bushes were heading back to the White
House to pick up where they left off. They would "regain their grip on
power." (We like that phrase for people like Milosevic).
But then comes election day. Bush loses by 300,000 votes. For Milosevic,
that would definitely have been the end. I mean, the constitution in
Yugoslavia says Slobo's presidential term didn't end until next summer. But
oh nooo! Slobo was not going to be permitted to use a dirty trick like the
law to "maintain his grip on power." Bill Clinton, Madeline Albright, Tony
Blair and other international figures made that clear. No, Slobo -- the people
have spoken. You must go.
But things are a little different in the capital of democracy. W didn't like
the outcome, so he is using this outdated, archaic electoral college thing
(which quite frankly sounds Milosevicesque) to disregard "the will of the
people" (we like that phrase for people like Milosevic). Can you imagine if
Milosevic tried this crap? Bombs away!
Anyway, I know this analogy isn't exactly the same, Bush didn't create the
electoral college, Gore would do the same thing etc., etc., but it would be
great if the corporate media handled this circus in Florida the way they
handle other corrupt systems around the world. That would definitely be
worth watching. Especially from Serbia.
Jeremy Scahill is an independent journalist based in Belgrade. He reported
live daily for Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now! during the 1999 NATO war and
was one of the few foreign journalists in Belgrade to witness the overthrow
of Slobodan Milosevic in October. He can be reached at jeremys@EUnet.yu
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