Politicians. Has anybody figured out what they actually do and why they do it? By politicians I don’t necessarily mean party politicians. No, I am defining politician as anybody who decides to seek any form of public office and who also wants to seek the betterment of society.
There are a few loaded phrases there which need refining as we go along. The best way this can be done is if we dive in and look at some prime examples of politicians going above and beyond our definition of that famous internet phrase OMG.
Just to be different, let’s start with a figure who strides the world stage. Our great protector Sepp Blatter. I remember Sepp as the jolly host of the early years of champions league draws. Fame blossomed as he made small talk and pulling balls out of a bowel an art form.
But this first brush with fame made our favourite Swiss Great Uncle hungry for even more notoriety. He decided to climb the greasy pole of football administration by seeking ‘election’ to his presidential position all those years ago.
So what has Sepp done during his glorious tenure?
Thanks to Sepp we all know that racism is a very bad thing. All we need is to wave a yellow flag and the football fairy will make everything better. If Sepp stuck with this simple world view, we might have politely laughed it off and agreed to go along with it for a simple life.
The problem is that it seems that anybody who criticizes Sepp and the weird decision making he supervises is accused of racism. We raise questions on dodgy finance. Racism says Sepp. Can’t figure out how Qatar with it’s oil-rich football tradition ended up with a world cup? Sepp says any questions illustrate our deep-seated euro-centric racist views. No it doesn’t. By falling for Sepp’s logic, we actually forget what racism is. The sheer ugliness of it.
The really good news is Sepp’s world knows no boundaries. Literally. At the end of this week’s FIFA congress Sepp actually put forward the idea of an inter-galactic championship in years to come.. Go figure that one. Too much time on his hands. Too much cash in his pocket as he leaves Brazil with a few billion profit as the country figures out how to pay off the debt incurred to host Sepp’s party.
Sepp. I love the comedy gold you give us in the name of the glorious game but sometimes the reality you want us to believe is about as real as last night’s dodgy penalty.
Reality is something we know about here. We know the reality of living in a failed economy which crashed and burned with spectacular effect.
Oh dear.
I’m not going to re-hash the last 3 years. We’ve been there. The thing is up until January this year Enda and his crew were like toddlers who wore those chest harnesses when they are learning to walk. Their parents benignly hold the reins as the cute kids find their feet.
This is a tried and tested formula most kids go through. For three years the troika acted out the role of nervous parents with aplomb. They gave Enda and crew a simple path to stick to. Yes it was bumpy but hopefully our toddler would learn to walk and learn to speak at the same time.
The thing is as soon as the parents left, chaos occurred as the kids showed they were incapable of walking and talking at the same time. Let's start with Enda. Like a classic toddler he is either a babbling mess[best country blah, blah, blah] or he does the silent trick.
Enda, how will water-metering work? [Enda shakes head] Enda, so are we cutting taxes today? [Enda gives a a little cheeky wink]. Enda, where’s big Jim? [Enda says nothing]
There you go Sepp and Enda, two men on a mission to save us from ourselves. Like I said they’re the men who give us sleepless nights and numerous exclamations of OMG.