Why Cynicism is Good

For a second there, just for a second, it seemed like the monks in Burma...sorry Myanmar...were going to finally put an end to the brutal military junta.

For a brief second there it looked like the indomitable will of the human spirit was going to accomplish something international governments were incapable of.

Now comes word that several thousand people were butchered by the military, and the monks were rounded up by the truckloads never to be seen again.

And just like that it was over.

This reminds me of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 when it seemed, for a fleeting meeting, that the human spirit would prevail. Of course, the protests turned into a massacre, quite literally since that incident is now forever known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre. I guess the irony is that China has been the one most responsible for letting the Myanmar government off the hook.

Oh well...I guess that's why being cynical is so much easier.