UCLA Professor Praises Zimbabwe's Dictator Robert Mugabe

As further evidence of the not-so-great minds inhabiting higher education, political science professor and director of the UCLA Globalization Research Center on Africa, Edmond J. Keller, recently made the following statement about Zimbabwe's destructive dictator, Robert Mugabe:

Mugabe has tried to start programs that would increase indigenous business opportunities, but the high inflation rate, the worthless Zimbabwe currency; and a vibrant civil society which has become anti-government make it impossible for him to hold on to power.

That's funny, last I checked, Mugabe had been in power for 28 years. And he's been destroying the country (once labeled the "bread basket of Africa" and now mired in poverty and tyranny) ever since.

Indeed, Keller's commentary brings to mind Sen. Patty Murray's (D-Wash.) ludicrous remarks in 2002 praising terrorist leader Osama bin Laden for allegedly "building day care" and "health care facilities." It's the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" syndrome, and it's rampant on the left. Siding with America or the West, however appropriate in some cases, must be avoided at all costs.

Considering that Keller made his statement to The Final Call, the "official communications organ" of the Nation of Islam, which titles the article in question, "West demands regime change for Zimbabwe," it begins to make sense. Not to mention that Keller's specialties include "Afro-Marxist regimes." Too bad it's the African people who are being oppressed by their, er, great leaders.

But I'm sure Zimbabwe's Movement for Democracy leader, Morgan Richard Tsvangirai, appreciates the support from his "brothas" in revolution.

Update: A reader alerted me to photos of Mugabe's excessively luxurious and gaudy palace, details of which appear in this article in The Sun. Quite a stark contrast to the starvation and poverty subsuming Zimbabwe, but par for the course, unfortunately, for African dictators and beyond.