Hey, we've all acted petulant at one time or another but most of us realized what we were doing and that our behavior was wrong, We apologized and did our best to grow up. Some wayward deviants turn their lives around and eventually became titans of business. Alas, not everyone demonstrates such maturity and sadly, one such miscreant became president of the Gambia.
Yahya Jammeh the tyrant that is wretching the Gambia fits the bill. He views the Gambia as his personal hacienda (to borrow a phrase from Cherno Baba), When what he said and did wasn't automatically deemed as 'absolute truth,' Yaya lied, he lashed out and displayed an 'I don't have to explain anything to anyone' insolence. Sound familiar? Bush has the same spoiled, bratty behavior.
Bob Woodward, in his "Bush At War" book, has a very telling quote that demonstrates George Bush's personal stuntedness:
"I'm the commander in chief, see, I don't need to explain, I do not need
to explain why I say things. That's the interesting part about being president.
Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel
like I owe anybody an explanation."
Now swap the name George Bush with Yahya Jammeh. The same penchant and dictatorial analogy applies. They both present a persona that is: peevish, vindictive, prevaricating, a lack of worldly curiosity. It goes on and on. Feel free to add your own adjectives.
I took it upon myself to write a short campaign snippet for Yahya Jammeh. It goes like this :
I am running for the presidency of the Gambia because I need this position
to compensate for my personal frailties. I have no great, uplifting, uniting
vision to offer this country. In fact, the axes of my entire life have been
insecurity and fear and, if elected, I will take the citizens of this country
under my wing and scare them enough to get re-elected till kingdom come.
Sarcastic aside, Yahya Jammeh has reached the pinnacle in that nation, one that provides all the 'cover' necessary for his personal demons. Unfortunately, Gambians are paying the price for the weaknesses of this one time Gambia High school below average performing student. Could someone tell him to grow the F up. Because he can’t hear me.