The Glasgow North East byelection

The term "brilliant politician" has to be an oxymoron, unless we have some new, weird and wonderful definition of the adjective "brilliant". Was Nietzsche not at least partly right to suggest that politics are for the mediocre? Well, he was right as far as all those little nonentities who seek career advancement and power in one form or another are concerned. Moreover, when it comes to the practical application of politics, it is those mediocrities who are invariably in the driving seat.

This morning I had a brief look at the mediocre when I watched a short clip, 11 minutes and 38 seconds long to be precise, on the approaching by-election in Glasgow north east. Now I don't know all of the characters in this plot but characters they seem to be; the little lady from the Tory party, who says all the right things, and all the other little people, and the slightly taller chap from the SNP, who also say all the right things and, yes, not to forget, Tommy Sheridan from 'Solidarity', who doesn't really tell us why the real left is split. Still as he says, nobody is talking about the split capitalist vote. Oh, and I almost forgot, there was the BNP man, Charlie Baillie, saying all the wrong things.

The one good thing on the video was to see how the working class people of Glasgow north east gave Mr "fascist" Baillie short shrift. Nevertheless, I had to think wouldn't it be nice if they could see a bit further than "smoke screen Charlie" and, if nothing else, at least, all adopt the attitude of one young lad at the local college who hits the nail on the head when he gives reasons why he won't be voting. Yes, boys as the young lad says, they lie and, I might add, you, or your own, die, and while Charlie has to be exposed for the charlie that he is, well wouldn't it have been nice to have had those punters shouting abuse at all the candidates except, of course, at the chap who was running for the "United Left", oh but then he wasn't running, was he?