“The worst possible government, at the worst possible time” — a quote for all seasons
By: James King
Tags: Government, Afghanistan, United Kingdom, Covid 19, Politics

“The worst possible government, at the worst possible time” — a quote for all seasons James King Sep 6·4 min read

I have a heavy heart, and with each passing day it seems to grow heavier.

There are now so many issues piling up that is is hard to even keep a track, so many lies from so many governments.

In America, Biden has been busy trying to paint his withdrawal from Afghanistan as some kind of triumph — which should come as no surprise to anyone who has been following US Politics for — well forever, really.

Right-wing renta-mouths in the US are up in arms about this, which just goes to show how far they are willing to test the incredulity of Americans.

They are hoping that by removing any trace of their own crowing about the effective surrender to the Taliban by their own part -time President — which they too called a triumph — it would make everyone forget who got this boulder rolling.

It is singularly depressing that the same people who are shedding crocodile tears over the women and girls of Afghanistan are the same people who have been ripping Roe v. Wade up. Enforcing women in Texas (and elsewhere) to bring babies into the world that they do not want.

The babies that they are so determined to save will, perforce, end up in the care of Children’s Services. A service operating on a shoestring budget because the right-wing do not think it is fair that they be asked to shoulder the responsibility to pay for this care.

Chickens and eggs come to mind.

Now, I can hear you saying that this is not President Biden’s fault; partly this is true, he is a victim of some members of his own Party who have refused to budge on ending the filibuster, making it impossible to get some of the more radical policies on the statute book. They could, for example, bring into force an Act that would protect Roe v. Wade by enshrining it in US law.

Biden could also extend the Supreme Court to try and re-balance the make-up once more, after the Mensa member illegitimately forced a religious zealot onto the bench after the death of the brilliant and humane Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Still, that’s America for you — furious with the Taliban, whilst not realising that the gun-toting religious maniacs they should be really worried about are strutting about the halls of the mighty.

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In the country formerly known as Great Britain, the government has come under fire for being useless — which seems a little unfair, since this is nothing new and was evident since before the bag of custard in a blonde fright wig took power.

If you can stretch your mind back to the days when that Quentin Blake illustration crawled out of the pages of a particularly terrifying Roald Dahl story and became PM, then you will recall that it was she who decided that leaving Europe also meant leaving the largest trading bloc on earth so we could trade freely with giants like the Faroe Islands and Albania. Quite the coup.

This has caused all sorts of issues, including but not limited to: delays at the border, chaos in Ireland, shortages of staff, empty shelves, pubs with no beer, cancellation of blood tests and much much more.

That last one has the very real potential to kill people. Cancer, for example, moves quickly and aggressively through the body and any delay in identifying the cancer in question would mean the difference between treatable and untreatable conditions, or to put in a way everyone will understand — life or death.

Killing people through ignorance, apathy and greed really has become a speciality of the British government, and I am beginning to worry that there is some kind of inter-departmental competition for most deaths in a single year (don’t worry Department for Health and Social Care, I think you are well in the lead, but the Foreign Office does seem to be intent on catching up).

In any other world, at any other time, this government would be experiencing the worst tanking of popularity since Mel Gibson had his roadside altercation with the police, having had one or two cold drinks too many, and yet they haven’t.

I suspect that this is partly because the opposition are also trying to decide which of the many fuck ups they should be concentrating on. A clever ruse by HM Government; you can’t keep complaining that they ran over your cat whilst they are setting fire to your house and then slaughtering all the first born.

Which brings us neatly to Gavin Williamson, a schoolboy who pinched his father’s suit and briefcase and has been lounging around in his office chair pretending to be in charge at the Department for Education. He says that new Covid prevention measures are being rolled out to schools in the UK now — after the start of term.

Did the start of term come as a surprise — was he too on his holibobs when the new timetables were issued? It does appear that he was all at sea when questioned about it on BBC Breakfast (thank goodness he wasn’t in Crete, because it would have been closed!).

I am sure that all this too, will be buried by the next crisis and the one after that and the one after that.

So, I recommend that you make a list, do it now, so you don’t forget. I warn you that it will be a long one; and remember that each time that someone asks why there are labour shortages, why vegetables are rotting in the ground, why it is that hard fought for rights are being ripped to shreds, why it is that another Christmas is under threat, why it is that people who trusted us to stand by them when they acted as guards and translators are being left behind in an inferno, why it is that there have been wildfires in Europe and why the ground has become so parched in California that they are struggling to grow grapes — the answer is always the same — to allow some rich asshole to get richer.