Thin Gruel

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7325524.stm

"We want to know who has won what before we can start talking about those kind, or even claim anything.

"We have no right to claim anything until ZEC has confirmed it. We know what we have won in terms of parliamentary seats, in terms of even the presidential vote, but that is internal to the MDC.

"It is not confirmed by the jurisdiction board that is supposed to announce those results. So any speculation about deals, about negotiations, about reaching out is not there."

Morgan Tsvangirai comes across as the dopiest of dopy wazzocks.

"There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures."

Mr Tsvangirai reminds me of a lazy bloke lying under an apple tree, waiting and waiting and waiting for the apple to fall into his lap. What will the apple be like when it drops? Bitten to bits by the birds and full of maggots. He does, however, seem to represent a very strong cultural tradition in Zimbabwe- seems pretty tough, I'll let somebody else do that. Well, up against the iron will (and the teeny tiny IQ) of R Mugabe, thats just not going to hack it. I have watched in dismay and genuine hurt as the slow motion train-wreck that is Zimbabwe has gone from almost first world conditions in 1999 to bottom of the third world in 2008. Contribution of Mr Tsvangirai to changing that fate? Virtually nil.

I imagine Mugabe will probably die when a pile of US dollars falls on him in his swiss bank vault. Thats when Mr Tsvangirai will leap into action...