Expert David Wallechinsky lists the top 5 worst living dictators 2007 edition

[PA Democrat]

Who do you predict is on his list? I'll post a text of his choices lower in the thread.

The link to the video with his choices and his rationale is here:



http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/scp_v3/viewer/index.php?pid=16598&rn=49750&cl=1605983&ch=61492&src=news

[PA Democrat]

1. Here is his list:

1. Omar al-Bashir--Sudan

2. Kim Jong-il--North Korea

3. Seyed Ali Khamenei--Iran

4. Hu Jintao--China

5. King Abdullah--Saudi Arabia

[Cooley Hurd]

2. He's missing one:

[no_hypocrisy]

3. I was thinking that he missed Generalismo Chimpy. n/t

[PA Democrat]

7. He gives Bush a special honorable mention in his book

http://www.amazon.com/Tyrants-Worlds-Worst-Living-Dictators/dp/0060590041

[PA Democrat]

12. Next time give us a warning!

That evil face froze my computer. I am prepared this time around!

[provis99]

4. odd that he put an ally, Saudi Arabia on the list

usually the US government only complains about dictators who aren't allied with us. BTW, I would put the Pakistan dictator on the top of an unbiased list.

[PA Democrat]

8. Pervez Musharraf was # 13 last year.

Huffington Post ran a story with his list for 2006.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-wallechinsky/the-worlds-worst-dictato_b_28679.html

[Poiuyt]

5. Who's David Wallechinsky?

I wasn't able to play the video.

[PA Democrat]

6. He's the author of "Tyrants: The World's 20 Worst Living Dictators"

Check out the review of the book:
Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
The 20 "worst living dictators" discussed here include Kim Jong-il, North Korea; King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia; Muammar al--Qaddafi, Libya; Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe; and Fidel Castro, Cuba. Wallechinsky offers comprehensive profiles of these tyrants, labeling, for example, government-approved chaos, economic bungling, human-rights violations, torture, censorship, and forced labor. But wait--the twenty-first is George W. Bush! He's not a dictator, the author assures us, but he points out that Bush's foreign policy is based on unilateralism, and his domestic policy is based on helping large corporations. Wallechinsky believes that the president's war on terrorism is an excuse to commit human-rights abuses, and he details what he calls government corruption and transparency. He discusses such subjects as the government's arbitrary arrest and detention, denial of fair public trials, and torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and punishment. Liberals will relish this book; right-wing conservatives probably will not. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved




More:

David Wallechinsky is the author or co-author of several books including The 20th Century: History With the Boring Parts Left Out. He is a contributing editor to Parade magazine, for which he writes about dictators, the federal budget and other topics. He is the vice president of the International Society of Olympic Historians.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-wallechinsky/

[WiseButAngrySara]

9. Very interesting. Thanks. Any mention of OBL or SH (now

deceased of course, while B* supposedly slept!)

[PA Democrat]

11. Neither of them made his list this year or last.

I am assuming that OBL doesn't qualify because he's not a dictator and Saddam is now dead and wasn't a threat last year while still alive.

In his book, he makes and exception to his list of "dictators" by adding Bush as number 21, for acting like a dictator, even though he was supposedly elected.

Here is his top 20 list for last year on Huffington Post. Check out his comments on Bush in the last paragraph :

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-wallechinsky/the-worlds-worst-dictato_b_28679.html

[WiseButAngrySara]

13. ROFL! * "acting like a dictator, even tho he was 'supposedly

elected'"!! The SCOTUS decision was the first act of tyranny in this mad descent into hell that B* has wrought. B* is a dictator and a tyrant IMO. And the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocents are on his hands. (and dumb and stupid are no excuse for him, although he is both.)

Thanks for the link. I will check it out.

[WiseButAngrySara]

14. .... below for others to read....

"In the book, I have also included a chapter about George W. Bush. Bush is not a dictator. If he was, Harriet Miers would be a Supreme Court justice and six of our major ports would be run by the royal family of Dubai. However, Bush does use many of the same tactics that real dictators use, committing the same human rights abuses that the U.S. State Department condemns when they occur in other countries, declaring himself not bound by laws passed by Congress, and using the old, classic dictator line, "Our nation is threatened by an evil outside force; only I can save the country and if you oppose me you are unpatriotic and support the enemy."

[sandnsea]

10. Maybe if he'd said 'regimes'

Bush would have ranked even higher. I sure see a certain level of government-approved chaos and economic bungling along with the rest of Bush's failings.

[PA Democrat]

15. Kick