Political madness

In its editorial today – straight from the geegee’s gob – the Irish Times criticises those who would have us believe that “unprecedented financial commitments” are a good idea. The IT questions the wisdom of such spending  and ‘The answers to these questions have been generally unconvincing”. There may well be financial storms ahead and yes, we need some savings for a future rainy day, but the IT would be well advised to follow the suggestion of Mary Lou McDonald: “Open the window and put your head out: it’s raining right now.”

Fine Gael sees itself as the adult in the election, cautioning wisdom and the dangers of having an empty financial coffer.

The paper of record goe on to tell us who to vote for. “It is hard to look beyond the likelihood of the next government being formed again around Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.

We’ve heard this advice not to disturb the status quo before; but this time  the status quo  means that Fine Gael will have been in government for some nineteen years before voters are allowed another crack  at change. The keep-us-don’t-risk-anything-new  is the same mantra used by  Margaret Thatcher: “Hold on tight to the hand of Nurse/ For fear of walking into something worse”.

Sensible advice perhaps for fearful infants but hardly for grown-up voters. As Mary Lou noted, it’s bucketing out there for thousands of people. Are the people of the South seriously being asked to keep on doing the same thing, in the hope that it’ll produce better results this time? And isn’t that supposed to be a sign of insanity, doing the same thing again and again, and expecting a different result?   

A word of suggestion: if you’re very very rich (hello Michael ‘Teacher-scorner’ O’Leary) it makes perfect sense to vote FF/FG. If you’re very very poor, or even if you’re just about getting by, you would be insane to vote for more FF/FG.

You were planning to vote for a party that governs a state with the second highest GDP figures in Europe, but which leaves 4,000 children  and nearly 10,500 adults homeless tonight?

You’d have to be mad.