reduced and recycled

Events have moved pretty fast, and I didn’t think way back in March how things would have turned out for DSAI. Over the weeks and months that followed Pakatan Rakyat’s victory in five states, I watched as the UMNO-BN machine got into gear; the assault has been breathtaking. Already the rumours on the blogosphere is that this online space, so often used by dissenting voices, have now been invaded by blogs which pursue a more.. pro-establishment bent in their opinions. The conversation has been forced online, and the government has little choice but to engage.

Unfortunately for those venturing into the online space, opinions come and go quickly, and have all the staying power of a pot-bellied octogenarian running a marathon; people tend to change their minds about things pretty fast. And who can blame us if we are dogged and pursued by spin from every corner? The mainstream media at once vacillates from chiding the government’s failure to do this or that, to reverting steadfastly in the other direction. I told myself some months ago that I’d stop reading the newspapers. At first it took effort - now I hardly read the news: there’s so much of it manufactured day-in and day-out tarring Pakatan states and politicians.

I’ll admit: it’s been amusing watching Khir Toyo struggling to remain relevant, watching him criticize the new Selangor state government without a hint of irony. It was equally amusing watching Mahathir flounder from one position to another, spreading his poison over everything; if anything, Mahathir’s tenacity is admirable, equally so given his predilection for bouts of amnesia about highly specific matters. It took me a while to suddenly see Mahathir in a new, and unflattering light; he has become a caricature of the flailing dictator, still wanting things his way, but ultimately impotent.

And now, DSAI. Sodomy, his former aide alleges. From the police, news that they are now ready to charge Anwar Ibrahim with something - not two weeks ago, this “something” might as well have been “anything”, really - in the next 48 hours. I’ve read Malik Imtiaz’s take on the matter, and Tommy Thomas’ write up in Malaysiakini; both worry about (what might be) our Justice system’s final humiliation. I worry about what DSAI’s arrest might precipitate. Anwar Ibrahim’s become a sort of messianic figure to me, irrational as it sounds. I know he will be crucified, and he knows it, too I’m willing to bet. I think DSAI knows how everything will play out.

The government cannot tolerate his return to Parliament. Announcing that he would be contesting in Permatang Pauh is akin to chucking the gauntlet in UMNO’s teeth. Events suggest that the authorities were willing to hold back on charging DSAI with anything specific, if only he remained out of parliament and thus, isolated from the corridors of power. I’ve wondered, over the past few days, if DSAI is feeling now what Daniel might have felt, walking into the lion’s den. More thoughts later.