This is just a quick entry for all my imaginary friends here (ie., me) of some observations and possible insights that have crystalised in my head mainly when I am out walking the dog.
This process was helped by a newspaper article (I can’t remember which one) on the Trump impeachment and how, in politics these days, things have become so bad that the “new normal” bar to shocking people has been raised so high that politicians can get away with anything.
The article was expanding on one of Trump’s pre-election statements along the lines that he was so popular amongst his supporters that he could shoot someone in Times Square and get away with it….
For me the penny dropped as to why Johnson and Trump can get away with telling lies and I think that it is this…
For many years politicians have turned NOT answering the question into an art form and people are fed up with it.
But now, a politician that answers the question – think Farage, Johnson, Trump – is refreshing to most people – and hence their popularity.
And here’s the irony! There is something “honest” about a question being answered as opposed to being avoided – even if it later turns out to be a lie!
So, lying (or not getting caught!) politics becomes the new normal.
Except in the Isle of Man…
I sat in on the recent public accounts committee session “Department for Enterprise evidence to the Media Development Fund Inquiry” to consider:
“That the events that caused the losses of over £26,000,000 from the Media Development Fund stand referred to the Public Accounts Committee, to identify whether further investigation is needed, further to their previous Report and that the Committee considers whether there are any changes to governance procedures required as a result of this situation.”
Don’t expect any “sizzle” here.
The loss, referred to above, was mentioned fleetingly once I think and I learned only one unrelated thing from this session – which might actually be related to my own mildly aspergic thought processes and not the fault of politicians at all – and this is it:
That in the Isle of Man, and in my head, politicians have taken the art of NOT ASKING a question by using MANY words to hitherto unseen heights.
I found it, on many occasions, very difficult to parse a question out of the verbiage.
I think Lawrence and Mark did very well under the circumstances.
I’m off to Quixada in Brazil next week, for a couple of weeks, to try and beat my 180 km personal best distance for flying a paraglider with some lovely buddies.
Hopefully my next blog entry will be more interesting!
PS. Another thought – possibly triggered as a result of the death of a lovely friend, James Stevenson, earlier this week
It is – live your life on a “pay as you go” basis and not on “contract basis” if at all possible, as you never know when your phone might die.
