Let them eat cake in Zimbabwe?
British tabloids have taken to calling him 鈥楳ad Bob.鈥�
On Saturday, Zimbabwe鈥檚 president seemed to be living up to the moniker.
Robert Mugabe threw himself a A with 3,000 spectators celebrating his 85th year on this planet.
And, really, what鈥檚 a party without ?
Nevermind that more than half the population is on emergency food aid, that inflation (by far the world鈥檚 highest) floats somewhere well above 200 million percent, or that his own government just days ago asked its cash-strapped neighbors for $2 million more in aid.
Oh yeah, and then there鈥檚 that cholera epidemic that鈥檚 blamed for claiming nearly 4,000 lives in recent months: a tragedy, that stems from government failure at the most basic levels. As the Monitor wrote in a December story, the outbreak even threatens regional stability.
But none of that stopped Mr. Mugabe from throwing such a lavish birthday bash.
This is Mugabe holding back
To be sure, he鈥檚 , as The New York Times point out. 鈥淏ut perhaps hard times call for restraint,鈥� quips the paper.
What Mugabe party would be complete, though, without Zimbabwe鈥檚 last few hundred white-owned farms. Yep, Bob was 鈥減laying the hits.鈥�
Opposition leader skips the bash
Top opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai - now the country鈥檚 prime minister in a fragile new coalition government 鈥� skipped the party.
The first few weeks of the new government have not gone well, reported the Monitor鈥檚 Africa Bureau Chief, Scott Baldauf, in a story last week.
Mugabe鈥檚 birthday bash casts a 鈥渓et them eat cake鈥� aura about his leadership. At least, that鈥檚 how it looks from the outside.