A New Challenger!

Obsequious, sniveling new dictator on the block Andry Rajoelina (pictured left demonstrating his new "free lap dances for all" populist claim) has taken power in a coup as publicised as it was wrapped in euphemism. The demagogue, known for his open incitements to violence against the government of former president Marc Ravalomanana, was given power on Tuesday by the Malagasy army after it took control of the country.

Newspapers as prestigious as Reuters and the Herald Tribune are quoted as saying "critics are calling it a coup". 

This demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding of the word "coup". Mr. Rajoelina has become president, unelected, after the army mutinied and forced the incumbent out of office. Calling Mr. Rajoelina's takeover a coup is not an act of criticism, it is a statement of fact. 

Following his coup, Mr. Rajoelina desperately tried to brown-nose Europe and the USA by insisting that he would follow free-market economics and that he would "respect financial orthodoxy", in essence reassuring observers that he was more interested in stealing from his own people than from foreign investors (This is why I called him out as a sniveling sycophant in the first paragraph).

If A Politic Blunder had a grading system, it would invent a new category called "Turd-gimp" for Mr. Rajoelina.