September 17, 2004

Government Sealed (but only at the ears)

On Monday, Batman climbed up to the royal balconey on the front of Buckingham Palace, though Robin got nicked by the coppers and the Batmobile was clamped.

On Wednesday, farmers snuck through the labyrinth of corridors in the Palace of Westminster and rushed onto the floor of the House of Commons, physically confronting Government ministers, until they were tackled by old men wearing dinner jackets and swords.

Yesterday, while outraged minsters, shadow numbers, and backbenchers talked to themselves and the press about the need to tighten things up, a reporter for The Sun planted a fake bomb - plasticene, wires, and all - right under them.

It seems that no matter how hard they try, it is impossible to hermetically seal everything. The world can't be made 100% safe. Of course in these cases there was no real danger. The only thing to fear was the publicity.

If these Fathers 4 Justice keep buying superhero costumes and pulling superhero stunts, somebody might actually listen to their message and make sure that for broken families equality in parenting is the norm. The only problem is that now terrorists will know that all they need to do to avoid being shot while in a high-security trespass is to dress up.

And I don't blame the pro-hunt lobby for storming the House of Commons. For some of the urbanite Labour ministers it may be the first time they have seen someone from the countryside face-to-face. They ought to be glad that they didn't have to actually get their shoes dirty in the soil of the land they govern.

Given the ease with which they could have done something more violent, as demonstrated by The Sun, the Government should be glad that majority, for whom they have no regard, are as docile as they are. The protests both inside and outside the House didn't sway a single vote. If anything, it made the anti-hunt MPs more adamant. They will use the Parliament Act to override the House of Lords to save a few foxes and decimate the rural economy. With the exception of Ann Widdecombe, the same MPs will work just as hard to kill thousands babies for convenience, while creating others out of clones for spare body parts.

It is a mad world. Not even a super hero can fix it.

Posted by david at September 17, 2004 08:58 PM | TrackBack
Comments

On Monday, Batman climbed up to the royal balconey

1. Its probably safe to say this is the first time in the history of the English language that those words have been arranged in that order, which brings me to my second point...

2. This is the best opening phrase to any blog entry i have ever read.

Posted by: JustinM at September 24, 2004 05:49 AM