Dictators never run out of reasons (however lame and hilarious the reasons may be) to justify and maintain the injustice, oppression and repression they impose on the majority. Here are some of the few delusional and out-of-touch excuses so far heard from dictators and their right-hand men.

Gaddafi: Protesters are 'kids' that had 'hallucination' pills; Ben Laden is the real criminal
Gaddafi: I can't resign; I'm not president.
Mubarak: I'll leave "in constitutional way"
Bereket Simon: Ethiopia today has become a benchmark, success story envied by others.

Speaking of the “success story” of Ethiopia that Mr. Bereket Simon, Mr. Meles Zenawi’s right-hand man, alluded to, here is the list of some of the “success stories” of Zenawi’s Ethiopia:

Ethiopia’s double-digit growth dubious statistics | Financial Times
Human Rights Watch Annual World Report – Events of 2010
Meles Zenawi Downgraded to ICU on NMG’s African Presidents Index
Ethiopia’s 2010 Elections: Re-establishing the One-Party System | By Prof. Kjetil Tronvoll
Ethiopia Declines to ‘Not Free’ in Freedom House’s Ranking
Ethiopia: EU Election Observation Mission’s Final Report on the May 2010 Elections
Ethiopia: Donor Aid Supports Repression (Human Rights Watch)
Ethiopia Under Zenawi Named 2nd Poorest Country in the World; Stateless Somalia Fares Better
Ethiopia: The 17th Most Failed State, and Zenawi: the 9th Worst of the Worst Dictators (Foreign Policy)
Ethiopia: Highest Number of Exiled Journalists in the World in the Last Decade – CPJ
Ethiopia: 2010 Annual Report on Human Rights by Amnesty International
UN’s Committee Against Torture “deeply concerned about” torture in Ethiopia

Who wouldn’t be envious of such a remarkable success story!