Monday, September 01, 2003
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A little champerty is – like playing with fire – a dangerous thing
A funded court case – funded because of a political agenda – is to a normal court case as a politician’s arson of his (/her) own parliament is to a “normal” ( = third party, non-political) arson of the same parliament. Ditto for a disgruntled schoolteacher burning down his (/her) own school (although the psychopathology of teacher-arsonists suggests that there is one very effective deterrent for the act – if matches are not on the regular order form for school perquisites, the typical would-be teacher/arsonist will be most reluctant to dip into their own pocket for the cost of the matches).
In the parliament arson case, the physical damage – between “insider” and “outsider” (non-political) arson is clearly identical. However, the intangible damage to democracy, when a politician deliberately sets fire to his (/her) own parliament in pursuit of a (necessarily below-board) political agenda, is incalculable. Or at least I think that’s what history says.
A little champerty is – like playing with fire – a dangerous thing
A funded court case – funded because of a political agenda – is to a normal court case as a politician’s arson of his (/her) own parliament is to a “normal” ( = third party, non-political) arson of the same parliament. Ditto for a disgruntled schoolteacher burning down his (/her) own school (although the psychopathology of teacher-arsonists suggests that there is one very effective deterrent for the act – if matches are not on the regular order form for school perquisites, the typical would-be teacher/arsonist will be most reluctant to dip into their own pocket for the cost of the matches).
In the parliament arson case, the physical damage – between “insider” and “outsider” (non-political) arson is clearly identical. However, the intangible damage to democracy, when a politician deliberately sets fire to his (/her) own parliament in pursuit of a (necessarily below-board) political agenda, is incalculable. Or at least I think that’s what history says.
