“Have you ever gotten the feeling that you aren't completely embarassed yet, but you glimpse tomorrow's embarrassment?”
~ Tom Cruise.
~ Tom Cruise.
Everyone has probably seen the photos of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz and his socks. If you haven't, you can check the photo and close-up at the BBC. He was exiting a mosque in Turkey when the photo was taken, and it was briefly shown on an article in TDN that praised the superiority of Turkish socks over other socks. . . believe it or not.
So what the hell is that? According to the BBC, as the president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz pulls down $391,440 a year, but this guy is too much of a freakin' cheap-ass to buy new socks when the old ones have holes large enough to drive a truck through. Not only that, but it's clear that Wolfowitz is totally lacking any ability to plan ahead, otherwise, he would have thought to himself: "Hmmm . . . . I'm going to Turkey. If I get invited to someone's house, I may have to take off my shoes. If I go to a mosque, I will definitely have to take off my shoes. Maybe I should invest in a few pairs of new socks and take them with me on my trip."
This is the guy who went ballistic when Turkey refused to join the Coalition of the Willing back in 2003. This is the guy who was throwing billions--yes, billions--of dollars down on the table as a bribe to the Turks so that they'd join the Coalition, but the guy is too cheap to buy new socks. Now the Turkish Sock Industrialists' Association is going to send him twelve pairs of socks and--yes--that was the article from which TDN removed the picture of Wolfowitz and his socks.
Not only was this a Kodak moment, it was a bigtime point-and-giggle moment as well, and it just goes to show you that you can be a tightwad with no capability for foresight and be appointed to head the World Bank.
Geez . . . I don't even want to think about the condition of his underwear.
6 comments:
Speaking of the BBC, here is an article with pictures of Turkish police posing with Ogun Samast the guy who admitted to killing Dink. Sickening.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6323887.stm
Thanks for pointing this out, GT. You are correct; it is sickening, but we also know that it's normal, don't we?
When Dink was murdered, we all knew who did it, so I'm not surprised by the photo and video. Again, I agree with Ismet Berkan, who was also one of the first to write a proper opinion on who was behind the murder.
The TimesOnline makes note of this:
It was then revealed that an ultra-nationalist who had associated with Hayal was a police informer and had exposed plans to kill Mr Dink eleven months previously.
Of course, they knew.
So Paul Wolfowitz wears socks that have holes in them. I just found out, thank you, and I love Wolfowitz even more for it. It has truly endeared Wolfowitz even more in my eyes.
How? Well, just the way Hrant Dink's shoes, with holes in the bottom, made us weep even harder for him. Surely, Dink too should have been able to purchase a new or second hand pair of shoes cheaply.
But that is not really the point. The point is these guys may well be thrifty or tightwad. But they may well be, and more likely to be, modest and humble consumers also, whose humility and modesty have been inadvertantly exposed. Dink's while he was lying dead, and Wolfowitz's while visiting a holy place.
I too have a pair of socks and a pair of shoes with holes in them even though I could afford new ones. Is this something I should be ashamed of? What if they happen to be my favorite socks and shoes, or my "lucky pairs"? Don't you know that many people who have experienced poverty carry so much of their habits even if they become filthy rich?
This is really an idle post, Rasti.
You don't really have to write unless you have anything of substance to say, you know.
From this blog, I expect you to worry about the PKK guerillas who have to climb up and down the stony, snowy mountains of Kurdistan with torn shoes, socks and gloves, Rasti, rather than giggle along with some Turkish industrialists over someone else's Kodak moment.
Just for you,Shexmus, but only because I'm using it for something else:
Paul Wolfowitz: A man to keep a close eye on.
There is absolutely no comparison between Wolfowitz and Hrant Dink or PKK gerîlas.
In fact, Paul Wolfowitz more closely resembles a high-ranking member of the Third Reich than any member of the human race.
I hope I live long enough to see him die. Then I'll have the chance to dance on his grave.
You are writing again just like a world activist on an ideological crusade, rather than a genuine Kurdish activist with a national cause to consider.
Just what has Paul Wolfowitz done to Kurds or to the Kurdish cause that you consider him like a man of the third reich? Is he someone who, a la Henry Kissinger, engineered Saddam's tyranny over Kurds? Or could he by any chance be the intellectual force who eventually forced aside old Kissingerian policy establishment and built the willpower to take on and overthrow our people's bloodiest enemy since the time of Dehaq?
Yes it was all for the American interests, but it also served Kurdish interests in Iraq too, and even the interests of the PKK and your beloved Dear Leader. Just why do you think the Turks hate Wolfowitz so much?
Think about the Kurdish national interests always, Rasti, always. Your mind must tick by that criterion alone. Let others hate Wolfowitz for whatever wrong they can find or invent in his work or character.
For me as a Kurd, for us as Kurds, the fact that he pushed the overthrow of Saddam and thus provided us with a glimmer of hope for a free and independent state is enough to show some gratitude towards him. He helped save our butts and perhaps even give us a chance to make the 21st Century, a century of re-birth for the Kurdish nation. Why would anyone calling herself a Kurd be so opposed to this change?
Let's put Kurdish interests aside for now. I would have thought even a world activist on an ideological crusade would rather have a president who pulls on holey socks than one wearing a hundred dollar pair, while presiding over a bank that was supposed to help the poor. But who bloody cares? Hey, it is wolfowitz, the guy that everybody hates! Bash him!
Oh by the way, I checked the link you provided. So much has been made of Wolfowitz and East Timor. So what does Jose Ramos Horta says about PW's presidency of the World Bank:
"Those who have suspicions and reservations should not have them because Wolfowitz is very humane and sensitive," East Timor's Nobel Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta, a Nobel peace laureate, told Portuguese news agency Lusa.
"He if going to be an effective fighter for foreign debt forgiveness of less developed nations. I am very satisfied," he added.
http://www.etan.org/et2005/april/01/06etwecm.htm
You see, Rasti? When you dance on PW's grave, even the East Timorese won't be there. You'll only find enemies of Kurds around dancing with you, just as you giggle with them now over that "kodak moment".
Youth and naivety are your only redeeming qualities at the moment. When you finally realise what "national interest" means and what Kurdish national interests are, perhaps then you'll realise your error with regard to Paul Wolfowitz.
Don't hate me then for telling you now, "I told you so"
Shexmus Amed
You obviously don't get the point. You stay on the surface and do not see what is beneath. That is the weakness of the Kurdish people.
You also need to define "Kurdish national interests."
Besides, why do you pay attention to an apocu anyway? We are all stupid or brainwashed, remember?
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