Politics unpacked

Cabled and cancelled

First it was one cable provider that got cancelled. But, World Cup watchers carried on. They thought their fears of a World Cup blackout were vastly imagined. Then came the coup de grace. Another Cable channel was debarred from airing any Cup coverage.

Cable kind of people, have few options now. Some are wondering - was this a mere jinx, or was this rather inspired?

'Time' to say

Time, the international news magazine, went to town on the usual highly coloured "Sri Lanka conflict story.'' You know how these stories get? Condemn the terrorists, but also say that there is something redeeming about them, all gooey, and all grossly exaggerated against a democratically elected government, fighting terror against all odds.

But this article also said one thing. The LTTE assassinated Rajiv Gandhi claimed the writer, "the then Indian Prime Minister."

Obviously, these guys who can't get their very basic facts right, couldn't do justice to the essentials of their story, what?

There ain't no free lunch

That man Stassen, named after a Senator of the US of A, has taken it upon himself to lobby his old pal from Little Rock, the sexy saxophonist Bill (ageing porn star?) Clinton.

The purpose of the lobbying exercise? To secure a top UNESCO post for the lady who was President, who is now in resentful retirement.

The grapevine also buzzes that the lady is in for a job on South Asian educational affairs, with a large UN agency. What's the quid pro quo accruing to Stassen, if the lady can deliver anything these days?

High quality silk

Silks there were a plenty, and why not?? Those who were made PC deserve the applause. However, three learned .counsel with a proven track record namely I.S., S.L. and Gomin over the years have been conspicuously overlooked. Say legal eagles that its all because, in times gone by, those with a lesser proven track record - to put it mildly - ended up being 'silked.'

The Geo in the politics

A peacemaker met a tribe of scribes recently at a session for questions and answers.

There were queries for him of all sorts, but the most intrepid type of questioning was from a persistent type who kept on asking about India's role in the Sri Lankan conflict. Each time, unerringly, our man had one glib lawyerly answer to it.

He said "but India is 22 miles to the north of us."

Well, if it wasn't a lesson in geopolitics, it was certainly a lesson in geography.

Comprehensive boorishness

Some years ago a reader wrote in, on the corrupting influence of nursery rhymes on the minds of the innocent. Eg: Goosy Goosy Gander.... there I met an old man who would not say his prayers, I caught him by the left foot and threw him down the stairs."

"Three Blind Mice...who cut off their tails with a carving knife."

Now a blue chip runs a radio commercial daily, which begins with a grand daughter's attempt to tell her grandfather water cut has been imposed.

The listener is saddened by the grandfather's inability to grasp the facts, due to his deaf ear. The scene ends in despair, with the grand-daughter lamenting "Aiyo Seeya I can't with you."

What follows is the blue chip advertisement that says "you never know who you might run into on the street. Our comprehensive policy covers you from street accidents." Can't some of this inane advertising come before a regulator to check for sense sensibility and sensitivity?

Drinking and driving

The President told somebody this week, that he had heard something interesting on the grapevine. Some folks are doing some drinking at a public corporation during working hours.

He was looking for a good way to get at these busybody Bacchanalians. Finally, he said "those days, I would have got into my car and gone there". Those imbibers have to thank their stars for the presence of Presidential security.