Benazir Bhutto
Through the long and grueling commute I endure each day to and from work I have been slowly rattled into following the saga unfolding in Pakistan thanks to NPR. I make it a point to not fall into the "Dumb Yank" category that so many foreigners see us as, so I try to learn about situations unfolding around the world. It puts so much in perspective and in addition to educating me, gave me the tools to write about what was wrong here with this country. This was once a political blog you know.
Remember that my long time readers?
Pakistan is in tremendous turmoil and my hope is that they can find a way out of this mess. One person that was seen as a hope to make it happen was Benazir Bhutto. This woman came from a political family, plagued by tragedy, that seems to echo what we have seen here in the US with the Kennedys. She was in self imposed exile until October when she returned to Pakistan with a chance to rule again, she had already served as Prime Minister of Pakistan in the past.
They (religious extremists) tried to kill her the first day of her return and failed. But today they unfortunately succeeded. There are riots going on everywhere in Pakistan and the whole story just makes me sick.
Why am I drawn to this event? Because this was a woman that wasn't afraid to stand up to something that was and is terribly wrong. And to do that in spite of being marked for death takes a great courage and character. Anyone that can go through all the turmoil and sheer punishment she endured for a great deal of her life and still show resiliency is someone that wins my admiration rather quickly. Bhutto wasn't perfect (no one is) but she stood for many of the things that we take for granted here in the US, Europe and anywhere else that's a free country. Whenever someone dies trying to bring those things to their people, I have to pay my respects and I do, most sincerely, here tonight.
Coming up next.....Can I please stop the coughing!?!?! And.... Where has that Vegas starlet gone?
