Gobble Gobble, One of Us!

Certain small, back-page news items jump out at you, kind of like those cartoon boxing gloves on springs. The one a few days ago about a Malaysian politician taking refuge in the Turkish Embassy in Kuala Lumpur is an example. He supposedly feared an assassination attempt, but his immediate problem was that he had been accused of "sodomizing a male aide". Now first, we should note that "sodomy" has served as a tacked-on item -- a rim shot (if that is the word) -- to laundry lists of accusations against prominent people since at least the Middle Ages, not unlike the ever-popular "involuntary deviate sexual intercourse" rap that about half the suspects in Pittsburgh wind up with (the other half being accused of "making terroristic threats"). And of course we also know that the term "sodomy" is viewed, in the Western countries, with about the same degree of respect as "witchcraft". But it is apparently alive and well in the third world.

But none of this is to the main point, which is: Let's say you're the guy at the door of the Turkish Embassy and this guy shows up. He wants diplomatic sanctuary, he's been accused of sodomy, and he just happens to pick your embassy as a place of refuge. Wouldn't you see that as somewhat awkward? I mean... not to make too big a deal about this, but the Turks have, rightly or wrongly, gotten a bit of bad press over the last few centuries or so on the sodomy issue. Now perhaps all that has changed... or maybe it was just a big lie in the first place. But still, why did he choose your embassy out of so many others? Hoping to win sympathy, or at least benign neutrality? And of course you know the word is going to go out to the press, world-wide (which it obviously has, or I wouldn't be talking about it). But you let him in anyway, and thus begins still another mini-drama of the absurd in the wild and wacky world of diplomacy.