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Bad rulers have always existed in society. I believe sometimes how you win the votes in elections is how good you make a “duh” idea sound, or fill the people with empty promises. And when you win, well, let’s just say with a nation to your command, there’s nothing you can’t do.

Ceausescu became a ruler of Romania with an iron fist in 1965. The massacres of his Communist regime weren’t too sweet, though. He started out fine, making fair reforms and partial judgment. Then, he psychologically began to lose piece by piece of his humanity. Many people snap when pressure builds, and Ceausescu snapped very hard. He erased his old laws and replaced them with tougher, stricter rules. To start, food was rationed and so limited that a fight would break out over a piece of bread. So when I say the president can do everything under his dictatorship, I mean good or bad. Of course, in Ceausescu’s eye, this was an improvement for the country. It seemed like all mothers, especially Asians always say “It's good for you”. You know having that kind of nerdy parent basically ruins every bit of chance at getting you to any parties. Food wasn’t the only rationed item, or should I say entertainment? TV was only broadcasting two hours a day. All of the country’s goods were exported, and for what? Was it to pay off an overseas debt? Maybe you should’ve done a little less on the gas pedal. But worse of all, behind everything, behind the president’s actions was a puppet master pulling the strings, forging the ending the way she wanted it. Yep, it was Mrs. Ceausescu, the wife of Ceausescu. Her influence over the president was huge, and the only reason the information went public was that secret service members leaked info since they got sick of the rules. Well, these kinds of stories usually come out with a happy ending. It did, quite dramatically and … speedy.

In the late 1990s, the wisdom in Ceausescu’s decisions was gone, and his wife was in total charge. Everyone knew Mrs. Ceausescu’s part in past events and people made jokes about her. I found this particularly interesting because a simple offensive sentence or two is the start of the revolt. If people agree, then step 1 of how-to-overthrow-an-empire is complete. The story went something along with the parameters of this. Mrs. Ceausescu one day visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and she saw a painting by Picasso about three ugly ladies. When she asked her guide of hers who painted it, the guide said: “I think you are mistaken. This isn’t a painting, it’s a mirror.” It’s probably not true, or else that mirror would be one because someone’s blood would’ve stained it. Little things like this led up to the ultimate revolution. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ceausescu were evacuated from the capital city into a helicopter that took them away. The pilot said that it ran out of fuel, which was a lie, and abandoned them in a wheat field outside Bucharest. Later, they were captured, trialed, and had 12 bullets put into Mr. Ceausescu. The reality sounded a little overboard, I think, but okay. One day they were the rulers, the next, criminals. It’s funny how things can turn around.

The scars of Romania remind people of the Ceausescu’s. But even nowadays, it isn’t that much different. The president is doing his own thing, a person running the show behind the scenes, and I wonder when they will reveal themselves.

【红霞译文】

社会离不开政客，以我个人之见，选举中究竟能拉多少选票，有时取决于你笼络人心的本领，也就是说如何让选民对你所兜售的空头支票充满幻想，等到了真正取胜有权凌驾于国家社会之上的时候，想必先前许下的诺言早已被抛到九霄云外。

齐奥塞斯库于1965年起开始成为罗马尼亚铁腕人物，由他领导的共产党执政当局干了不少滥杀无辜的勾当，最初从政时他倾向改革，可新官上任三把火，以后便慢慢失去人性理智；当内心深处承受过度压力，人迟早要面临崩溃，而他最终走入无法挽救的深渊。齐奥塞斯库推翻所有现有法规，重新建立起一整套更为残酷更加刻薄的社会制度，随之而来头号问题就是食物供给，因为分配少得可怜，民众经常会为面包争抢斗殴。对于独裁政府，一国之主有权决定任何事情，我觉得其中有好有坏，当然在齐奥塞斯库看来这样可以完善国家，如同天下所有母亲、尤其是亚裔妈妈喜欢把口头禅“对你有好处”挂在嘴边，要知道持有这种想法的家长变相地忽略了子女融入社会的人生理念。话又说了回来，食物并非成为当时唯一紧缺的东西，娱乐生活又怎样呢？每天电视台仅播放两个小时新闻联播；举国上下所有物资全部出口，到底图啥？难道为了还清海外债务？哦对了，没准你开车时得少踩油门，但最坏的还有齐奥塞斯库领导下的罗马尼亚不过是一个傀儡政府，其幕后操纵者堪称女中豪杰，那就是齐奥塞斯库夫人，要知道她的影响力远大于国家首脑，人们始终蒙在鼓里，直到统治阶层不满现状将内幕公告天下真相才终于大白，通常这种丑闻曝光后，随之而来的是圆满结局，可它来得太戏剧性…迅雷不及掩耳。

上个世纪九十年代后期，齐奥塞斯库不再明察秋毫，改由其老婆全权当政，人们对她所做所为了如指掌，因此常拿她寻开心，其中有个笑话特逗，话虽不在多，但却表现出民间萌发出反抗苗头，如果人们万众一心，距离推翻独裁统治的日子就不远了。事情发生在有一天，当齐奥塞斯库夫人出访纽约大都会艺术博物馆看见毕加索有关三位丑女人的画像时向身边保镖问起画家是何许人也，侍卫回答道：“我觉得您误会了，这哪是幅油画，分明是面镜子。”对话的真实性有待商榷，如若这样的话，恐怕那可是一面沾满鲜血的镜子。俗语说得好，积少成多聚沙成塔，涓涓细流终能汇成滔滔江河，席卷全国的革命逼得齐奥塞斯库夫妇走投无路，只好搭乘直升飞机撤出首都，飞行员见状谎称缺油而把二人扔在布加勒斯特郊外空旷的野地上，他俩被抓、带上法庭、执行枪决，最后在齐奥塞斯库身上一共发现了十二颗子弹，现场惨不忍睹，不过我觉得一切顺理成章，一朝天子一代臣，世事无常呵。

罗马尼亚伤痕累累，至今人们始终难以忘却齐奥塞斯库时代。其实现政依然如故，背地里总统想干什么干什么，我倒好奇他们什么时候才能露出庐山真面目。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2015: Constanta the Oldest City, ROU(罗马尼亚最古老的城市—康斯坦察)

2015: Bucharest—La Belle Epoque, Romania(罗马尼亚布加勒斯特的美好时光)

2015: Bucharest—Balkan Paris, Romania(罗马尼亚布加勒斯特—巴尔干的巴黎)

2015: Dimitrie Gusti Natl Village Museum, ROU(罗马尼亚国家乡村馆)

2014: YMCA Camp—Outdoor Pool-1(基督教青年会营户外戏水池之一)

2012: 妹子亚洲餐厅(Mei's Asian Diner)