July - Mission: Lard-loss

[El Gordo]

My anger turns to those who would rule us with scant regard for the blood-soaked pages of history.

And there's the rub....

I agree with just about all you say. We also respected the 2 mins silence today, and your sense of history chimes with mine in most respects. We feel put upon, we feel aggrieved. Why don't they just leave us alone?

And rightly or wrongly, that's what the Palestinians think about the Israelis. Er, and what the Israelis think about the Palestinians.

Why don't they just leave us alone?

It's what the ordinary Iraqi thinks about 'the insurgents', and it's what 'the insurgents' think about US and UK troops.

Why don't they just leave us alone?

It's what the ordinary Afghani thinks about the Taleban, and what the Taleban thinks about the US and UK troops.

Why don't they just leave us alone?

And so on.

We're all chasing our tails, outraged by it all. And our outrage creates anger which causes outrage which causes anger......

On a sad anniversary, let's also mourn the demise of statesmanship, and of humility.

To the feeble-minded, humility equals weakness. The truth is that humility, used wisely, is a very powerful weapon. You can get what the hell you want with it.

The trouble is this: the deployment of humility requires courage.

Our leaders are powerful, but tend not to be courageous. Some people (particularly those very same leaders) get the two things mixed up.

Mahatma Gandhi...... Where are you mate?

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Well done on your run, Sweder.