New Hampshire
What happened to Liberia? Only three years ago, things were going swimmingly, at least according to President Charles Taylor’s Ministry of Information: ‘We say “well done” to Mr President, and advise him to always keep the communication highway free and clear of any hindrance, so that a people-to-leader and leader-to-people approach can be adopted and maintained, so that everyone will at least have the opportunity to have the ears of the Chief Executive, instead of a select few.’
By contrast, in 1990 only a select few got the opportunity to have the ears of the then Chief Executive, Samuel Doe. He’d fallen into the hands of Prince Johnson, one of Charles Taylor’s allies in the battle to unseat him. Johnson had President Doe stripped to his underpants and then barked into the camera, ‘That man won’t talk! Bring me his ear!’ The cameraman did a jerky about-face in time to catch Johnson’s guys holding down the President and slicing off his left ear.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in