ON THE FRONTIER OF DISGUST and other McKRAP tm

WHEN HOPE ALMOST FADES, THE HERETIK HEARS OF SAINTS ALIVE, NOW GONE
FROM HILZOY @OBSIDIAN WINGS:
""A real-life Cool Hand Luke…"

"The bravest of the brave…"

"...the greatest man I have ever known..."

These are the words of those who knew Capt. Mbaye Diagne, a young Senegalese army officer who served in Rwanda as an unarmed U.N. military observer. I have never heard another human being described in the way that those who knew Mbaye describe him: he was, as one of his colleagues told me, "the kind of guy you meet once in a lifetime."

He was a hero.

From literally the first hours of the genocide, Capt. Mbaye simply ignored the U.N.'s standing orders not to intervene, and single-handedly began saving lives. He rescued the children of the moderate Prime Minster Agathe Uwilingiyimana, after 25 well-armed Belgian and Ghanaian U.N. peacekeepers surrendered their weapons to Rwandan troops. The Rwandan troops killed Madame Agathe (and, later, ten Belgian peacekeepers), while the unarmed Capt. Mbaye -- acting on his own initiative -- hid the Prime Minister's children in a closet.

In the days and weeks that followed, Capt. Mbaye became a legend among U.N. forces in Kigali. He continued his solo rescue missions, and had an uncanny ability to charm his way past checkpoints full of killers. On one occasion he found a group of 25 Tutsis hiding in a house in Nyamirambo, a Kigali neighborhood that was particularly dangerous. Capt. Mbaye ferried the Tutsis to the U.N. headquarters in groups of five -- on each trip passing through 23 militia checkpoints with a Jeep-load of Tutsis. Somehow, he convinced the killers to let these Tutsis live."

AND THE HERETIK NOTES: This piece has made my day.  Thank you, Jeanne at Body and Soul for pointing me toward Hilzoy. And thank you to Hilzoy  for pointing out someone who with the grace of some light in a soul, with the power and will of conviction makes a mark in this life one life along the way after another.
Sadly this saint who saved so many other at checkpoints died in a mortar blast at a checkpoint, the same point of conscience where he saved so many others.  In this most profane world, yet there are sacred spots where even the most jaded soul most bow his most cynical head and cry.



AS THE HERETIK SO SUSPECTED: Everything really is all connected  in the person of one man.
In the case of Tom Delay, Idyllopus reminds The Heretik that  where there is smoke there is also fire. The Heretik previously  got the word on this from Pearly Gates.  The Clown Prince Tommy Boy will enjoy time in control of everything on earth, but he has a one way ticket for his final vacation.


Image by Idyllopus

AND OY.
NOW I HAVE TO AGREE WITH MICHELLE MALKIN?
But, hey, I'm just a c**t. And a whore. And I should just shut the f**k up. Right?

Oy: Michelle Malkin,so savaged as Maklin by Rox Populi, The Heretik and others on April Fool's Day has a right to have herself parodied, satirized, and desparaged with more imagination.  Small words, small minds . . . .

THE HERETIK IS JUST BLOWN AWAY:
Jeb Bush says he intends sign a bill that "essentially extends a right Floridians already have in their home or car, saying that there's no need to retreat before fighting back. But in public spaces, deadly force can only be used after trying to back off."
THE HERETIK DESPAIRS: Is there some family contest going on to see which Bush brother is the biggest wanker with the smallest um conscience?   O, I feel threatened.  Let's invade Iraq.  O, that guy is looking at me like he might hit me . . . Oy.  And Texas and Florida.  Cual es peor?

FROM DAVID @SIROTABLOG: BUSH CALLED FDR A SOCIALIST . . .
 
      President Bush's professor at Harvard Business School reports in today's Harvard Crimson that Bush "called former president Franklin D. Roosevelt, Class of 1904, a 'socialist' and spoke against Social Security, unemployment insurance, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other New Deal innovations."

THE HERETIK NOTES: Guess the cat is out of the blog, bag, the Sirota blog.  Perpetually amazed people don't see Bush for what he thinks he is.  Someone who can fool all the people all the time.  Durrrh.  Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, won't get fooled again.  Oy.

FROM AMANDA @PANDAGON: Who Knew that Hunting Humans Might Cause Legal Issues?
Wow, the Minutemen already got into trouble with their cute little illegal immigrant "watch" program. Turns out that it's not going to be fun hunting illegal aliens as they thought, especially when your hunting trophies are going to be inspected to see if there's evidence that treating your fellow human beings like prey might be a criminal matter.

AND THE HERETIK NOTES: We are a nation of immigrants all.  Some came ahead of others.  What the immigrant, illegal or otherwise, always brings, but never packed in a small bag is hope.  Hope comes with the immigrant.  Hope remains for the society that welcomes it.  The despair of small minds decays our great society.

Comments

[denisdekat]

Thnaks for the great post :) However, I tried visiting the first link and I got an error :( Do you have the correct URL?

[The Heretik]

Thanks, D Kat. Link updated, corrected.

[Idyllopus]

In case you missed it, Mary Jacoby had published an interview with Tsurumi in September 2004.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/091704I.shtml

[The Heretik]

Yeah, I saw that back in the day. TruthOut is always up on everything. Thanks, pus.

[suki]

As an Australian with zero experience of guns let alone a culture of gun ownership, the Stand Your Ground Bill is truly terrifying.
I'm not predicting a high rate of international tourism to Florida any time soon!

http://notanothertermplease.blogspot.com/2005/04/when-accused-of-erring-on-wrong-side.html

[Missouri Mule]

Today I will be rest in the peace that the Invented Ruler's approval rating is at a all time low.
One must grab the little bastard by the balls and pull him down. Love and Peace baby.

He's going down...down...down...down...down...down...He's goin'...down....down...down...

[Agitprop]

God almighty Annie get your gun! The race is on between the Bush brothers. Dubya turned Iraq into the wild wild west. Now Brother Jeb wants to turn Florida into a shooting gallery. Trigger happy bubbas on the border, a.k.a. The Minutemen, are poised and ready to shoot brown people. It's the 1800's again. I'm gonna head up to Sutter's Mill and see if I can strike it rich in them gold mines! Yeeeehaw!

[bitchphd]

The combined information in this post is horrifying.

[Kate S.]

Beautiful sentiment at the end, Heretik. Hope springs eternal for the immigrant; for this transplant, spring brings hope.