Kazakhstan Is Not Stupid Country

Or so says Borat, the clueless Kazakh journalist whose bigoted and misogynistic views are made to seem almost charming because of his total ignorance of Western Political Correctness.

Played by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, the fictional Borat speaks without the societal restrictions on personal expression that we in the West have been conditioned to abide by. He thereby gives the impression that Kazakhstan is indeed the epitome of stupidness.

Bagila Bukharbayeva, in today's Star-Telegram, describes the Kazakh government's displeasure with being the butt of Borat's biting jokes. Understandably miffed by the bad publicity, Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev recently visited the U.S., partly to counter the growing impression of his country's backwardness. Good luck, Mr. President.

Although, Kazakhstan can't possibly be as bad as Borat makes it out to be, it is by all accounts a typically unsophisticated and primitive country representative of that unknown part of the world. It could, in fact be the inspiration for the mythical country of Elbonia in Scott Adams' Dilbert cartoons where attempts are made to launch satellites using the town sling-shot.