A Picture is worth a thousand words!

In baseball, they call it the stretch drive. It is the middle of the second half of a very long and boring game. The excitement of going to the ball park and sitting in the sun with friends or sons is wearing out. The conversations are dieing down. The effect of all that beer is making you feel woozy. As is always the case in baseball, there is not much action, a strike out here, a ground out there and little real excitement. So by the sixth inning, you begin to think about the office and worry whether it was wise for you to call in sick from work today. You second guess the wisdom for taking your son out of school just to sit through another boring game, score tied 1 to 1.

The stretch drive is the late hour of a baseball game when a manager earns his keep by making the right call: whether it is sending in thee right pinch hitter or bringing in the pinch runner before the sure hitter comes to bat. A nice bunt here and a sacrifice fly there, a relief out here or an intentional walk there and you have the game won or lost with the last at bat or the last pitch. If excitement was the sole purpose, baseball would have been played over three innings. But, baseball is both a test of skill and a test of will and so it is played over 9 or more innings. To flourish, you have to be at the top of your game even during the boring stretch drive when there is little action, but a repetitive defensive struggle. And although it would be hard for you to believe this while you are sitting through the stretch drive, that is actually why you keep coming back to the ball park.

The struggle of our people too is in the stretch drive. There is much action without real movement and much movement without real progress. The game plan seems to change every day but it is really the same. All sides including the refs seem to have shown their hands, but then you see each side taken by surprise by the other’s maneuvers. It promises to be a long and ugly stretch drive. It is all part of the game – only the naïve would have thought this game to be played clean or to be brief.

I suspect it is this feeling of unease that our now regular contributor, H. Gabriel was sensing when he put together yet another well articulated piece. I invite you to enjoy his take on developments over the last several days. As always, I have reproduced his contribution in its entirety.

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I have a confession to make. Like most Ethiopians, I routinely (almost daily since May 15th) check the various Ethio-websites. Most of the time I am encouraged that the demise of the neo-apartheid system in Ethiopia is very near. I feel that way not just because of the candlelight vigils in DC or some demonstration in some part of the globe; nor because I read about some incredibly brave students saying enough is enough to occupation and slavery or because the EU yanked their direct budget support. I feel optimistic because the combination of all I see, read and hear tells me that the rope is tightening around the neck of the evil that is eating away at my country, my home, my birthplace.

Some times however, like this last week, I get discouraged by what I see, read and hear. First, I read the melancholy letter of Berhanu Nega’s sister. The letter appears to be a sober assessment of the Ethiopian reality. Simply put, I believe her assessment is that vigils, letter writing, marching down Pennsylvania Avenue etc. alone are not going to bring down the EPRDF. We need to intensify the non-violent struggle even more. Although, I agree whole-heartedly with her assessment the tone of her letter reminded me that it may take a lot more that what most of us think, to tighten that rope.

Then, the invitation of Meles to the “Summit of Progressive Governments” was very disappointing. What more does this animal have to do for the world to see him for what he is? How many more innocents does he have to kill for them to say I will not break bread with someone whose hand is drenched with the blood of children? It’s like we are watching the same movie but they think it is a “Drama” while we know it is a “Horror”, with Meles playing Freddie and Jason combined together.

Then last night I saw the BBC video of the summit and really understood what the various print articles meant when they said, “Behind the icy diplomatic exchange, however, the body language told a different story”. Meles was no longer the little Napoleon with the designer shades and the arrogant frown on his face. He looked like a little boy who was ready to pick up his marbles and go home. He had his chin in his hand with an ugly scowl on his face. Blair was huffing and puffing and looking at Meles sideways. The body language did say it all. Blair’s body showed his disgust with Meles. Meles’s shriveling demeanor showed the verbal whipping he has been getting for two days.

This video made my week. It made me realize, albeit slowly, the world is seeing Meles for who he really is. Yes, it is not just one method of struggle that is going to get rid of the EPRDF. It is the combination of the letter writing, Pennsylvania Avenue marching, budget support yanking, One Ethiopia bloging etc. that is going to tighten the noose around the neck of the EPRDF. Some are paying the ultimate price while most of us are just cheerleading. However, anyone who has gone to a football game understands that cheerleaders (band and all) are important arsenal for a team to win.

You got to watch this video. It will make your week!

H. Gabriel