Trust Me, I'm a TD . . .

It is interesting the way that politicians are currently trying to back into the thicket of the public service by way of camouflage. ‘We’re all public servants now!’ seems to be the cry.

Several months ago there was a government TD on the radio—I can’t remember exactly who—an ex-minister perhaps, I think—speaking in self-righteous indignation at the suggestion that politicians hadn’t made a sufficient financial sacrifice. ‘We took the same cut as the rest of the public service’ was the substance of his response.

Now when I hear the term ‘public service’ what springs immediately to mind are people such as those working in hospitals or the civil service or mending our roads—people in the main working for ordinary salaries in ordinary jobs with fairly limited career paths.

The fact is that, whatever the technical definition may be, politicians are not public servants. They are in fact the public leadership, the leadership of the state, and they benefit accordingly. They are individuals who have put themselves forward to be the eyes and ears and warning voice for the rest of us as we move forward into an uncertain future.

Except that in the current case they have, almost without exception, proved to be collectively blind, deaf and dumb—more candidates for handicapped parking stickers than elected office.

Now by some miracle they seem to have been restored to full capacity and are going to lead us sure-footedly through the worsening economic blizzard.

The terrible thing is that there is no rational alternative.