UNLIKE POPULAR BELIEF, I have deliberately stayed away from direct active comment on the “leadership race” within the New National Party, except for two blogs in two years – one on the undemocratic trajectory of the party and another a tongue-in-cheek piece about the behavior of its leader.
The reason for that has been multi-fold, but when you know where “the bodies are buried” you take more care and responsibility.
It is like, in the early days of the social media revolution, there was an option to click off your relationship status, and one those was – “it’s complicated”.
And so, I now watch a lot of these things with a level of pain – severe pain; and for the most part I keep my mouth shut.
For better or for worse, the Political Leader, we fondly refer to as “Doc”, was at different times my boss. But more importantly, we’ve had a lot of good social times together. Many times, when either of us got into familial troubles, we “batted” for each other even when we know we were wrong.
I even played for his ‘Ex Nationals’ cricket team, never mind it was the older Mark brother that played nationals.
After the last elections he lost, I was convinced that ‘Doc; had PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from the development – when I saw his manner, his rantings, his state of denial. I was genuinely concerned – not for a politician – but for a human being.
So concerned, I asked two of the returning MPs to make sure they go see him every day to help keep his spirits up.
As I watch his recent behavior – I have differing ranges of emotions – that can go from amazement to bemusement, to personal concern; but strangely never anger.
The overriding emotion is pity.
These latest episodes in the current collective political days of our lives always take me to how I saw him three days after the election. Politics is cruel thing, even for a “five-star general.”
His disingenuity; his instigations could drive the best of us to the edge of madness. But then we can’t fall off.
His on-and-off
relation with the truth is in some ways fascinating, and in other ways daringly
pathetic, deserving of doctoral studies.
We are all watching in real time a 40-year-old career of highs and lows,
crashing down through a blog of lies.
This is a long way from our talk of 2013, when at the cusp of his return victory, I spoke to him about reclaiming his legacy, especially by governing differently. Something which he then agreed to then. He stayed the course for a couple of years, and then went back to old habits.
I warned then, to those who would have listened soon after 2018, that we were starting to see the beginning of the end.
Two days before the last general election, I said to him he had 48 hours to find a political miracle because he could lose. He responded that I did not know what I was talking about. It was the first time in our very, very many years that he out-rightly declared, I knew nothing about this stuff. Alas, political dementia had already stepped in.
What is happening now is like watching your grandfather deteriorate. You take no pleasure in it. You just try to hold on to the memories of the “good old days.”
The frustration only deepens when you can’t get any “family” member to talk about the situation; their warped reality having nose dived into a dangerous level of sycophancy, and their responses are only barrages of boorishness that do a disservice to everyone., including the man they think they are defending.
‘Doc’ has not only hurt his legacy; he has severely wounded his party. Politics is filled with many cases of amazing resurrections, but the story of Lazarus happens once every two thousand years.
I am not sure what he expects from his December 1 vanity party – but redemption can only come to those who come to terms with their own demons.
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