The Midnight Express of Irony

Technorati tags: Humor, Irony, Anwar Ibrahim, Politics, Scandal, Sodomy

A text message from Lord Panda a couple of days ago had Walski laughing out loud...

"Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim sought refuge at the Turkish Embassy"
- OK... not the best place to be hangin' out after the 2nd accusation of packin' fudge..

So, Walski texted him back:

But I guess the Midnight Express had limited destinations to choose from...

Anyone who's watched the film Midnight Express would know the relevance of this and would probably be having a fit of ironic laughter, too. The film, of course, was an exaggerated (and rather inaccurate) adaptation of Billy Hayes' autobiographical book of the same name, and was inflammatory towards the Turks.

Then again, irony does have its funny side too, sometimes, and for that Walski let out a loud snicker...

Many did wonder, however, why the Turkish embassy. Bernama reported that contrary to what Anwar had claimed, the Turkish envoy did not offer him refuge, but accorded him space to hang out on humanitarian grounds (hat-tip: Rocky's Bru). However, as one of Rocky's commenters stated (via Turkish news site sorces), permission was given by the Turkish government. Apparently, Turkish PM, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is quite buddy-buddy with Anwar.

Ironic? You tell Walski... but the irony surrounding the whole incident doesn't quite stop there, either.

For instance, if you've seen pictures of the accuser, Saiful Bukhari Azlan (whom, incidentally, is probably the most Googled name in Malaysia the past few days), you'd have thought it would be kinda ridiculous that a 61 year old man - with a bad back - could overpower the 23 year old, for some backdoor lovin'. Certain people have opined that yes, it's plausible. How?

“Drugs, intoxication, power of influence, love, charmed by the personality and charisma…”, and as I rattle on the possibilities, I could sense a shift in mood. It doesn’t seem so impossible now does it?

Especially if you consider the possibility that it was consensual up till the point Anwar demanded too much from the young man. Sodomy, as it should be pointed out, is a crime regardless whether it was consensual or not.
(source: Suara Akar Umbi)

Walski thinks that this, too, is ironic. Yeah, okay... this comes from an UMNO blog. And UMNO, of course, sees Anwar Ibrahim as a constant thorn in their side. That's not the ironic part.

The irony kicks in as to how some people can choose to believe in the most ludicrous possibilities, just so that their party's status quo position is left intact.

Come hell, highwater, or a magical mystery trip up the Hershey Highway...
(conspiracy can be so ironic, and more, in the full post)

But since 'tis the season for conspiracy theories, here's a hare-brained far-fetched theory that Walski's come up with. A kind of "what if" scenario, if you would.

What if the allegation is a deliberate attempt to jeopardize the UMNO/BN-led government in the court of public opinion? Now, wouldn't that be ironic?

As it is, the general public opinion is that Anwar is innocent. And immediately, the popular conclusion is that BN is behind the accusations. Which, of course, doesn't quite add up, since doing that at a time when the public opinion of BN is at a low level. So, anyone with the kind of devious intelligence - like Walski - could actually further damage the general opinion of BN/UMNO simply by filing a false accusation against a popular individual like Anwar, who is already at odds with the ruling government.

Let's not discount the totally no-brainer stupidity factor possibility, however, that it was elements within BN/UMNO that did it. Desperate people will do the most desperate of things, no matter how stupid.

The possibilities are endless - some even ironic.

Equally no-brainer, ironically, are some of the things we are hearing in the press from some of our ministers.

Duhh... it's not like Malaysia exists in a vacuum. Especially not in this day and age, with information moving literally at the speed of thought. And this guy's a minister?

How ironic...

Well, be that as it may, that's the situation we're currently at... and yes, the police should be allowed to do their duty and investigate - in an unbiased, and non-prejudgemental manner. And Walski believes, too, that until someone is unequivocally proven otherwise, all parties should be treated like they're innocent.

That, by the way, is what justice is all about - innocent until proven guilty. Even the people we may not particularly like.

Otherwise, all we have is irony, and a lot of bullshit on the side...