Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Death as POSIWID 2

In my earlier post Death as POSIWID, I wrote:
Many public figures end their careers in failure and disgrace (because they have no other way to quit), and this makes space for the next generation of public figures.
A journalist commenting on today's resignation of David "Blind Trust" Blunkett recalled something Enoch Powell once said:
"All political careers end in failure"

But each failure is different, and provides an interesting and sometimes ironic coda to the political career it terminates. Blunkett brought down by biometrics and DNA, Clinton brought down by charm and sexual hunger. And of course Powell himself, an intellectual whose conscience seemed stronger than his ambition, and who was commonly regarded even by his enemies as the most intelligent man in politics, who was brought down (or perhaps set up) after making the infamous Rivers of Blood speech, despite claiming innocence and surprise about its possible interpretation by the Far Right. 

But these are not failures of politics but successes. It was quite correct for Powell to be denied high office, and it is quite correct for Blunkett to be hauled over the coals by the media for getting so closely involved with a company whose commercial interests interact so obviously with his ministerial duties. This shows that the system works, eventually, towards the correct outcome.

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