Lebanese politics. I was looking at issues of An-Nahar newspaper from 1970. The ugliness of Lebanese politics is so striking. You read the names of the politicians of that year and you realize that the same names remain with us today--the same families that have ruled Lebanon for decades, nay centuries especially in the case of Christians and Druzes. In July of 1970, for example, you read that Kamal Jumblat (Walid's father) was nominating Jamil Lahhud (Emile's father) to be president of Lebanon. You also read that Pierre Gemayyel (Amin's father) and Kamil Sham`un (Duri's father) were supporting Sulayman Franjiyyah (Sulyaman's grandfather) to be president of Lebanon. But it is interesting that power of the Sunni and Shi`ite feudal dynasties have been eliminated. In the case of the Sunnis, Rafiq Hariri created a new dynasty--but it is a dynasty built on...cash.