“`cause you got personality
Walk, personality
Talk, Personality
Smile, Personality
Charm, personality
Love, personality
And of Cause you’ve got
A great big heart………….”
(You’ve Got) Personality (Lloyd Price)
“His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa has today been congratulated on being crowned as the Human Personality of the Year by a sweeping majority in a poll organized by Kuwaiti Al-Sharq newspapers. Ten thousand personalities from the GCC countries and the Arab World took part in the massive poll. The Shura Council today issued a statement, hailed the Arab honour as a recognition of HM King Hamad statesmanship and crucial role in promoting reforms and leading the march of modernization and democratization…………….”
(The Shoura Council is the group that is fully appointed by the ruling family (Al Khalifa or Al Saud or Al Capone) but pretends it represents the people).
I had thought it was a fully-paid Humanitarian prize, what I (rather irreverently but all in good humor) called in a previous post here Gulf Nobel Prize: Humanitarian Teargas Personality of the Year. Bahrain News Agency says here he won as Human Personality of the Year. Which is puzzling: I have never heard of a Simian Personality of the Year, not since the late Cheeta retired and broke Tarzan’s heart. Maybe it just means the king has a great personality (unlike his uncle), hence the great Lloyd Price song up there.
I had daydreams of nominating myself to the newspaper as Human (or was it Humanitarian) Personality of the Year. I had dreamed of finding some money, perhaps donations, to pay one of these “newspapers” to conduct a “poll” and declare me the winner of the most human or humanitarian or maybe the most popular or at least the smartest person of the year (well, the second smartest, there is always someone). But I was too late; this putz beat me to it.
The Saudi princes, having access to more money, do it in more style. They pay writers to write whole books about their king. They also pay writers to write ‘pieces’ extolling the virtues of the king and various princes, essentially reminding the faithful what great guys they are. Essentially telling the people what a privilege they have to be ruled and robbed by this family and their retainers. Even in Forbes Magazine.
Cheers
mhg