Noora Faraj: They May Be Giants…

“Look what happened to him!” said my colleague with a look of pity on her face. “Yeah, and who’s he?” I responded, not noticing the logo of Yemen state television.

That’s when I had to do a double-take at President Ali Abdullah Saleh addressing his people on the screen. It took me a good solid minute’s silence until my cynicism kicked in, and said, “Those burns aren’t the result of that attack on his palace. Truth is he probably fell asleep while sun baking on a private beach in a nondescript island somewhere in the Indian Ocean.”

Because that’s the case with most despotic leaders, right?

Yemeni society is characterized by complete destitution, while (insert political title here) and his oblivious, albeit perfectly groomed, wife are spending hard-earned government money to fund their much-needed retail therapy (actual therapy is questionable) and stress-alleviating tropical getaways. Cronies are naturally on speed-dial.

I’ll spare you the rest of my soliloquy, as my colleague was quick to comment on the karma of his incident.

“See?” she pointed to the screen, as though it was painstakingly only a matter of time before this moment took place, and said, “What goes around comes around.”

True as that may be, that is not inferred as a sign of defeat. Instant? No. Imminent? Definitely. Personally, I believe that a little more beating-around-the-bush will ensue, as the leader slowly but surely hands over his power. An experience which when left to my imagination would probably draw similarity to that of a root canal.

Leaders of the “Arab Spring” participating nations should take President Saleh’s episode as a reminder that they are merely human beings, devoid of both divine powers and the 8 spare lives limited to cats.

(Noora Faraj, Senior Producer at Al Arabiya English’s Web TV, can be reached at: [email protected])