Happy as Hamlet
It is not easy to duplicate success. While it’s possible to dig up some old oracle to make her repeat her dire predictions by simply exchanging one old war for a contemporary one, it is less easy for a modern man to be as successful as, let’s say, Attila the Hun.
So, for every John Belushi, there are a thousand John McCains who want to imitate their predecessors - and fail rather miserably at it too. As the Disney corporation learnt the hard way, it’s better to stick to what you know than to try for formulas that worked rather better for others. To put it politely, the world is not exactly waiting for the Playboy Mouse Channel.
In England the Gordon Brown camp (no, not that camp) face similar problems in presenting their man as the natural heir to Tony Blair’s stained throne. Since they’re even having problems convincing their own party of pointless zombies, it’s rather doubtful that the country as a whole will suddenly go Brown with desire.
One doesn’t need the oracular talents of a Neil Gaiman to predict that poor old Gordon will probably end up looking like the Khartoum loser rather than that Flashy git. He’s more likely to become his party’s sacrificial goat than its magic goose, in other words.
Or, to stick with the animal kingdom for a little bit longer: where Blair is now reviled for having milked his public for too long, Gordon now seems to get severly punished beforehand, for not knowing how to milk the bloody beast to begin with.
A politician’s lot is not always a happy one - but then again, old Gordon is a true, dour Scot, so, however much he might look the part, he knows life ain’t a picnic. Still, it’s cold comfort but let’s throw the guy this tired old bone anyway: however heart- or balls-breaking it is, not everybody can win life’s lottery - or: in terms of happy endings, not everybody can be as lucky as the Danes.
If you enjoyed this post, subscribe today to get free updates by email or RSS.
