05-10-2014, 12:37 PM
10/4/14
Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier
I'm sticking with my immediate reaction on Twitter ... I was brought up not to speak ill of the dead, a habit that has stuck. Therefore, Jean-Claude Duvalier is dead. Nothing else. #BabyDoc
Otto Rock (@incakolanews) October 4, 2014
Otto Rock (@incakolanews) October 4, 2014
...though wanted to add a few words so the blog is the medium. I was brought up by people and in a culture that states you shouldn't speak ill of the dead, which has become ingrained. It's not a bad thing, it's not a good thing, it's just a thing. This is about as far as my cultural constipation will allow me to go:
Ex-President of Haiti Jean-Claude Duvalier, known as Baby Doc, has died of a heart attack aged 63. He was country President while still a teenager (taking over from his father) and de-facto head of the Tontons Macoutes death squads that stood out as barbaric even by late 20th century Latin America standards. France gave him asylum for a long time, for which it should be totally ashamed as a supposedly civilized nation. He was never brought to justice for crimes he committed. He won't be missed.
UPDATE: Thanks due to reader FR for mailing in, a correction ensues: Baby Doc applied for asylum in France but never formally received it from the country. He did however live in the country and under its protection for nearly 25 years.
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.