George Orwell-of Animal Farm fame-would probably have had a field day picking sense out of nonsense and trying to make some sense out of the "monkey tricks" that have so characterised our political scenario for as long as we can recall, with no letting up.
I don't seem to recall whether the monkey or the mouse was included in Orwell's menagerie of animals. I believe that the horse and the donkey were included on their own merit and not necessarily disguised as the "ass in the lion's skin." In any case, an updated version ought to be less discriminatory. Orwell's political satire would conceivably not include episodes like "Putting the mice to guard the cheese," or giving horses the task of "cleaning their own Aegean stables."
Not to be forgotten are the political grasshoppers and corbeau-which can both be accommodated under the animal genus. Which brings to mind the late Lloyd Best's dictum that, "Yuh cyah teach corbeau to eat sponge cake." Added to that, "De local political corbeau doh eat nice," to borrow the street slang.
Shifting gear somewhat from the Orwell fantasy, it has long been the fashion that any new political dispensation presumably pretends to hold high hopes of cleansing the Augean stables left by its predecessor. As long as I can remember, whenever "the so-called glorious morning came" with great fanfare, it's generally preceded with "wall-to-wall carpet" news coverage of reports of allegations of corruption in statutory boards, state enterprises and wherever, even without hard empirical evidence adduced.
I'm becoming increasingly persuaded that the fabled, famous and possible infamous Ali Baba and his 40 thieves have been relocated in time and space. Where and when? Well your guess is as good as mine, if you can find the "adjectives" to describe the nefarious episodes, as the calypsonian suggested. By the way, our politicians are yet to understand that trust and credibility are wasting assets.
If my hunch is correct (and I'm only supposing) and the modus operadi (way of doing business) remained much the same, then it may well nigh be impossible to track down the loot as the wily fellow has only to utter the password "Open Sesame" for some huge rock to open up and close behind Ali Baba and his band of brigands. Unlike the Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest, the original Ali Baba, nor his political successors, was not inclined, it seemed, to share the loot with the poor.
Unlike Ali Baba, aspiring politicians are wont to present themselves as "friends and champions of the poor" and promise to take care of the supposed "wretched of the earth" and redistribute the largesse. However, memories are all too short and amnesia sets in and some politicians and sundry hangers-on and political barnacles succumb to the heady wine of power and validate Lord Action's dictum that "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
It's neither surprising nor unusual when self-styled political Robin Hoods turn out to be merely "Hoodwinking Robins," no pun intended. They ultimately seem, at every juncture, to be asking themselves, "How can I hoodwink and rob the long-suffering taxpayer blind? Let me count the ways." Lest it be felt that, like Orwell, I'm talking in strange tongues, as seems the current style, let me repeat what I said at an earlier time in reference to an earlier political dispensation.
It went something like this: With the current disclosure of scandalous improprieties and of credible (even perhaps not conclusive) reports of graft, bribery and corruption attributed to those who were/are well within the political loop, the scenario bristled with burlesque, where it was, rightly or wrongly, assumed that Peter was collecting for Paul, Paul was stealing for all and the suspected miscreants were filling their side pockets, front pockets, back pockets and even their nennen pockets as well.
If I recall correctly, I then suggested that despite all the unctuous protestations about a new dawn, corruption had, from all appearances, not only come of age but appeared well on the way to having a charmed existence. It has not been, on occasion, surprising or unreasonable that some voices would be raised to a crescendo in an expression of disappointment, anger, disgust and perhaps even shame and perceived betrayal.
One might well think that the case is being overstated as an exercise in hyperbole or aimless fishing in an ocean of vacuous rumour-mongering, but it has long been established that, ironically enough, the problems and pervasive aura of corruption did not stem simply from aberrations or the fraying at the edges but from an intrinsic weakness of the system or at the rotten core of the governance itself.
All that may sound as amorphous generalisations but the parliamentary records should confirm much of the evidence that has been shown to be verifiable and in the public domain. At one time it was expected that then proposed "integrity legislation" could be the magic wand, the panacea or "open sesame" to deal with, among other conflicts of interests, the pilfering and plundering of the public purse. For some inexplicable reason the Integrity Commission now in place appears to be damage prone and dysfunctional.
The numerous reported cases of official malfeasance in the public domain are legion and would probably make Alice of Alice in Wonderland stand petrified in her shoes and wonder whether she had been short-changed where "tall stories" were concerned. Poor Alice might be surprised to learn that white-collar "high fliers" with dubious intent can receive huge Christmas bonuses for Good Friday performances at taxpayers' expense, self-administered, if you please.
