Thursday, September 21, 2006

And I used to like Charles Rizq (the Lebanese Minister of Justice). The more he increases his presidential aspirations, the more ridiculous Charles Rizq sounds. And I used to like him and I respect him--especially when he once told me about his clashes with Bashir Gemayyel. Today on LBC-TV he said: that the Lebanese public opinion is "more intelligent, more enlightened, better informed, and more aware" than European public opinion. I once was with him at a conference hosted by the Canadian government, and he began by paying tribute to the "civilization" of the Lebanese people and their sophistication. I had to interrupt him in mid-sentence. I urged to stop right there: that it was insulting to the audience to speak in this manner about a people most famous for a savage civil war, the "Lebanese contributions" of Elia Kazan notwithstanding. Also Charles: can you once appear on TV and not remind the audience that you have a Ph.D.? Thanks. And did you know that Rif`at Al-Asad and Rustum Ghazalah and `Udayy Husayn all had PhDs?