The Shrinking President

Bored? Need to pass some time? Here’s something everyone is doing: Ridicule the Lebanese President.

A few months ago, Mr. Walid Jumblat had decided to stop calling our President “His Excellency the President (fakhamatou’l ra’ys)” , except when he’s being ironic.
He had resolved to call him by his bare name: Emile Lahhoud.
At the time, I was shocked at such bare dis-respect. But these days, everyone is doing it.
Last week, Future TV had a whole introduction in the news bulletin calling Emile Lahhoud by his bare name again and again.
Today on Nharkom Saeed, a TV program, Presenter Walid Abboud found it necessary to interrupt his guest every now and then to tell him: “Please, we’re talking about the President here, can you adjust your terminology a bit?”.

Yesterday, Gebran Tueini wrote a scathing anti-Lahhoud OP.Ed in the first page of Lebanon’s most widely read daily. “If everyone is doing it, why can’t we?” Seems to be the running logic. Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon, everyone is talking about Emile Lahhoud. It’s permissible, it’s (even more ironically) Halal!

And this is not just in Lebanon; the whole international community is ignoring him. Not only that, they are dodging internationally accepted protocol to make sure that everyone understand that they’re ignoring Emile Lahhoud.

Mr. President, don’t panic, when I said that you’re shrinking, I didn’t mean your biceps. I was just referring to your stature… nothing serious, really.