Being played for the fool

Morgan Tsvangirai, Prime Minister in the "Unity" government of Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), is in Washington D.C. this week. He has gone out on what is embarrassingly close to a pan-handling mission to try and secure foreign aid for the deeply mismanaged country. His first stop was meeting U.S. SecState H. Clinton, and he is to meet President B. Obama on Friday, but it seems the truth of the situation is already getting in the way...

"I am anxious to hear about the plans and the work that your government is undertaking and to look for ways that we appropriately can be supportive," Clinton told reporters at the State Department as she posed for pictures with Tsvangirai.

Johnnie Carson, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs, on Monday said more political, social and economic reforms were needed before substantial U.S. aid could kick in or targeted sanctions against Mugabe were lifted.

J. Carson is being almost kind in that statement, folks. So long as Robert Mugabe and his kleptocrats hold all the significant levers of power in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), and refuse to give them up, any aid given that isn't strictly under the control of aid-delivering foreign organizations is just more money for the thieves to make off with.

It is also obvious at this point that the Obama administration is going to do exactly *nothing* to actually get R. Mugabe and party out of power.

Mr. Tsvangirai, sir, you are better than this. Please, for the future of your country, stop allowing yourself to be publicly played for the fool.