To the Editor,
Maybe John Lennon summarized my own feelings pretty well in his song ‘Gimme Some Truth,’ written about 50 years ago. Especially his closing verse: “I’m sick to death of hearing things from uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded hypocritics; All I want is the truth, just give me some truth; I’ve had enough of reading things by neurotic, psychotic, pig-headed politicians; Just give me some truth, all I want is the truth.”
My expectations of all politicians have fallen drastically over the years, and I now look at them as clowns performing in a circus ring. Despite it all, I enjoy the entertainment that so many politicians bring to our daily lives, especially as they try to extricate themselves from deep holes they dig by being untruthful and seldom admitting mistakes.
So I am saddened to see the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson — universally known as BoJo — having to quit the circus ring due to a revolt in his caucus. Although those headlines of “Revolting Politicians” were something else to smile at, and immediately British bookies started laying odds on who would be next to take up residence at 10 Downing Street. That was before any had declared their candidacy, or thrown their hat into the circus ring.
Now they will all make a whole lot of promises and shake a lot of hands, and whoever wins will break a lot of those promises and shake a lot of confidences. As always, the electorate will play their part by being gullible enough to believe what they want to hear, but as Winston Churchill once said: “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried.”
Pundits have spoken and written multitudes of opinions about BoJo’s eventual downfall, but surely the writing was on the wall when his chief adviser Dominic Cummings was fired in 2020. When Cummings pedalled away from Downing Street on his bicycle for the last time, BoJo lost his mojo.
Bernie Smith,
Parksville