FURTHERMORE
By Gerry Moran
And so the Big Day looms – Presidential Election Day. Am I excited or what? Let’s just say What. In my entire voting life (more elections than I care to remember) I have never been so unenthused about casting my vote. To be honest I couldn’t care less if I never voted. Should Storm Amy, or her niece or first cousin once removed revisit I’ll be happy to stay home and watch some boring Netflix series. Although in fairness a Netflix series could not be as boring as this election.
Oh, and if I may digress, for all the poor reviews it’s received I thoroughly enjoyed Netflix’s House Of Guinness. In fact I found a bottle of Guinness in the fridge which I imbibed throughout one episode, further enhancing my enjoyment.
Getting back to this boring election – if I thought three was boring we’re now down to two. Jim Gavin has been side-lined. Red-carded. Put off. Permanently. And if ‘poor’ Jim didn’t know politics was dirty – he sure knows it now. Gaelic football, as Jim knows only too well, can be a dirty game betimes but it pales into insignificance compared to the ‘game’ of politics which is, was, and always will be – dirty. With a capital D.
My greatest problem with this election is that there aren’t enough candidates in the race and I am annoyed with our TDs and councillors and whoever else stymied other potential candidates from entering the fray; candidates whose politics I might profoundly disagree with but who, I believe, deserved a shot at the Presidency. It’s called democracy. Democracy?
What I’ve witnessed this Presidential Election is politics at its most controlling and conniving. Although not enthused by this two-horse race, I am moderately enthused about one candidate who will certainly get my No.1. Who, Gerry? Who? Come on, come on – one’s vote is a secret – perhaps the only secret one can keep in life and bring to the grave (not least in small towns awash with wagging tongues and cocked, curious bristling ears).
And after all that blather that any politician might be proud of (did I miss my vocation?) I am, quite honestly, at the risk of repeating myself (and I am) bored to death with this election. I was bored with three in the race and now I am even more bored with this tedious two-horse race. Bored with debates, editorials, opinion pieces (and by God there’s no shortage of them, not least my own tuppence-worth further adding to the verbiage).
So, forgive me, dear readers, if you are bored with my mouthing off. Go and watch a Netflix series. I certainly wouldn’t blame you. In fact– call over to my house, bring a few beers and we’ll watch one together and forget this god-awful, controlled, connived, most boring, Presidential Election.
PS: I was surprised that your man didn’t run for the Aras. Who’s that, Gerry? Harvey. Harvey Norman. Harvey is not attached to any political party that I know of (a plus, methinks) he is known to all and sundry and popular, I believe, with much of the population. Harvey always has something to offer – to young, and old, alike. He is a master of the media, commandeering front page headlines in our Sunday papers and would, no doubt, be more than capable of presenting the presidency in a prominent, positive light.
Democracy
“A democracy that is a government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people…” was written by one Thomas Parker, a decorated hero of the American Civil War (1861-1865). It was repeated by him in subsequent speeches and came to the attention of Abraham Lincoln, who is said to have marked with pencil that portion of Parker’s speech of July 4, 1858. Lincoln used this in his famous Gettysburg Address (1863): “Government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.’” Who’d have thought – Honest Abe Lincoln, a plagiarist! Ah, politics, politics, politics.
Finally, “It’s no exaggeration to say that the undecideds could go one way or another.” (George Bush).
