Despot Style
Lifestyles of the Rich & Fascist
The decadent whims of the world's wackiest dictators
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IT'S AUTOCRATIC These days, being a despot is a matter of style
They're quirky, vibrant, and they march to the beat of their own military drums, when they're not off committing crimes against humanity. Since time immemorial, autocrats, absolute monarchs, dictators, and less than savory heads of state have shown a penchant for the unconventional and over-the-top, in both their personal lives and political careers.
When Senior General Than Shwe was spooked by a negative astrological reading, he abruptly ordered that the capital of Myanmar be moved from Rangoon to a dusty jungle town called PyinmanaThis billionaire old-boys club has been increasingly under the spotlight as pop culture has melded with their pomp culture. Ugandan president Idi Amin's antics were chronicled in a recent film, The Last King of Scotland, and Trey Parker and Matt Stone have given despots like Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong Il their 15 minutes in the cartoon creations South Park and Team America. In the book Dictator Style: Lifestyles of the World's Most Colorful Despots (2005), Peter York played Robin Leach to a catalog of garish and grandiose dictator homesteads from Mussolini manor to casa Tito.
As Cuban Commandante Fidel Castro, rumored to be on his deathbed, is poised to release his self-titled autobiography in early spring, and Saddam Hussein's O.J.-like trial has ended with him sentenced to be hanged by the end of next month, the fascist fascination is sure to grow. To bring you up to speed, Radar has compiled a list of ten autocrats that rate not so much for their ability to govern with an iron fist but for their personal levels of outrageousness and eccentricity. After all, there's no business like show business ... except maybe a career in totalitarian political domination.
U CAN'T TOUCH THIS Duds-wise, MC Hammer's got nothin' on Al-Quaddafi
Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-Quaddafi
COUNTRY: Libya
REIGN OF TERROR: 1969–present
HOW HE BROKE INTO THE BUSINESS: Military coup
Though significantly softened with age since he was public enemy No. 1 in the '90s, Muammar al-Quaddafi continues to rule Libya with flair. He is often clad in shimmering, metallic-flowing garb that could give M.C. Hammer a run for his money, but when he goes on tour, he doesn't opt for the pop-star treatment. Instead of checking in to lavish hotels, Al-Quaddafi has been known to go on the move in mobile homes and ultimately set up camp in a brown Bedouin tent.
And the military motif doesn't end there. Clad in chic, form-fitting camouflage fatigues, his personal bodyguards are made up of an all-girl Amazonian unit alleged to be virgins. The 40-femme corps of African beauties is also said to be highly trained in martial arts and weaponry. Clearly a ladies' man, Al-Quaddafi even hosted the Miss Net World beauty pageant in 2002, an event which boasted being the first in the world of its kind online. Though he may enjoy frolicking with the females and landscape design (he has ordered Tripoli residents to paint their rooftops green, giving the appearance of lushness to visitors flying in on planes), he's ultimately a man's man. An avid soccer fan, he purchased a 7.5 percent share of the Italian soccer club Juventus in 2002. With all of that under his belt, it's no wonder the autocrat inspired the English National Opera's production of Gaddafi [sic]: A Living Myth.
Related: Aleksandr Lukashenko, Despot Style, Fidel Castro, Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Muizzaddin Waddaulah, Kim Jong Il, King Mswati Iii, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Muammar Abu Minyar, Muammar Quaddafi, Politics, Saddam Hussein, Saparmurat Niyazov, Than Shwe
Posted by: Curlew on December 13, 2006 5:13 AM
Ooooooh! Good one! You spoke truth to power man! George Bush is a fascist man!!
Now how about you get back to work and get me my espresso you stinky hippie?
Posted by: sammy on December 13, 2006 4:13 PM
Get your own damn espresso, Sammy. If everyone in this country who thinks Bush is a fascist man-child is a hippie, then America's turned into Woodstock, dude, 'cause 70 percent of those polled recently disapprove of the greedy, lying, dumb-as-a-rock, pseudo-cowboy twit with the Stepford wife and the alcoholic party-girl daughters. Get back to your NASCAR, you stinkin' redneck.
Posted by: pdiehl on December 13, 2006 6:33 PM
Regarding al-Qaddafi:
He is definately not a soccer fan, he hates sports, infact, Libya's national soccer team withdrew from FIFA for 8 years because of him. The correct info is that one of his sons is highly into soccer and purchased the portion of Juventus FC. Also the family and kids run the country from the football association to the cellphone buisnesses, and, call themselves the "people's socialist republic."
Posted by: milanista on December 14, 2006 1:57 AM
Ha ha, disapproving over handling of the war equates to Bush being a fascist... that's a stretch in logic, but no big surprise. If you really think Bush is a facist, then your high school history teacher failed you miserably. If you truly knew what fascism is, you couldn't possibly come to a conclusion that Bush is even close.
The only dictators in our hemisphere are Castro and Hugo Chavez...yeah, the guy who just declared that he doesn't need approval to enact policies, he can rule by fiat. That's what you should be scaring you guys. Castro on the other hand locks up writers/poets/journalists who disagree with him...but that's not fascism, that's just...(you can fill in the answer if you have one)
Posted by: HurlyBurly on February 3, 2007 8:41 PM
Are people seriously arguing over whether or not George Bush is a fascist? For Christ's sake. . .sure he's a horrible leader, but he's not throwing teenage-chasing parties or starving us. Maybe you should move to Burma for a while.
Posted by: eg8919 on February 11, 2007 6:57 PM
With all those medals, you would think he invaded Normandy single-handedly.
He's nothing but a ego maniacal murderous butcher Michael Jackson dressing wannabee
Posted by: BigBear on June 6, 2007 6:47 PM
This story forgot to include George Bush. If you want a rich fascist, we need look no further than the man-child living in the White House.