On the Scene: White Mischief

THE verandah of the Oloffson Hotel, made famous as the Trianon by Graham Greene in his novel The Comedians., was recently entirely occupied by American election observers, mainly women. One of them, a psychotherapist, was reading a book entitled A Higher Standard of Leadership— not, perhaps, a very difficult thing to achieve, in the light of Haiti’s recent history. Nevertheless, I could not help recalling Mr. Smith, the presidential candidate in Greene’s book, who had run against Harry Truman on the vegetarian ticket, and who had come to Papa Doc’s Haiti to convert it to vegetarianism: “The dream was intact. Reality could not touch him. . . . The Haitians freed from acidity, poverty, and passion would soon be bent happily over their nut-cutlets.”

Is democracy in Haiti today the vegetarianism of yesteryear? Certainly, the election observers seemed to have undergone some kind of transcendent experience at the polls; they spoke of the elections with religious veneration in their voices. Even the three-week delay in announcing the results did not dent their serenity: the delay was sent merely to test their faith. And I know from experience that election observers tend to observe what they want to happen rather than what actually does happen.

About the Author

Anthony Daniels

Mr. Daniels, a retired doctor who worked in several parts of the world, is the author of Mass Listeria, a book about health scares.

Featured Tags

THE verandah of the Oloffson Hotel, made famous as the Trianon by Graham Greene in his novel The Comedians., was recently entirely occupied by American election observers, mainly women. One of them, a psychotherapist, was reading a book entitled A Higher Standard of Leadership— not, perhaps, a very difficult thing to achieve, in the light of Haiti’s recent history. Nevertheless, I could not help recalling Mr. Smith, the presidential candidate in Greene’s book, who had run against Harry Truman on the vegetarian ticket, and who had come to Papa Doc’s Haiti to convert it to vegetarianism: “The dream was intact. Reality could not touch him. . . . The Haitians freed from acidity, poverty, and passion would soon be bent happily over their nut-cutlets.”

Is democracy in Haiti today the vegetarianism of yesteryear? Certainly, the election observers seemed to have undergone some kind of transcendent experience at the polls; they spoke of the elections with religious veneration in their voices. Even the three-week delay in announcing the results did not dent their serenity: the delay was sent merely to test their faith. And I know from experience that election observers tend to observe what they want to happen rather than what actually does happen.