So, today the saintly Nelson Mandela is 92. And I have to admit, as a rather cynical person, I have a grudging admiration for the man.
He may not have achieved much post Apartheid, but at least he appears to not be an outright cunt like so many of his peers. It was inevitable that he was going to be showered with riches upon his release, but he appears not to have gone looking for any more. He took his task of healing the nation seriously and even though the roots of reverse racism took place under his rule, I don't think his intentions were malign.
And remember, this was a man who advocated killing random strangers, black or white, to bring about change.
I once met a man who'd been on Robben Island for even longer than Nelson Mandela, he was the nicest, gentlest person you could ever hope to meet, it was hard to imagine that he'd once actually killed random people by planting bombs.
I think it's probably that 25-odd years in a shithole prison are enough to knock the cuntishness out of anyone, really.
And so I have a suggestion to improve the level of political discourse and aspiration in this country. In order to stand for parliament, you have to spend 25 years in a maximum security shithole run by vicious bastards who fucking hate you. After your sentence is complete, you are free to stand for parliament.
It really can't be any worse than the system we have today.
15 comments:
nelson mandela is so eigthies.
Reminds me of a Terry Pratchett book where the hero was in a jail is an Australian analogue. The hero asked the jailer who the other prisoner was.
"That's the Governor"
"What did he do"
"Do? He's the Governor. We find it saves time putting them in jail when they become Governor as we don't have to go chasing them after they've left office"
JohnW
I suggest he made one significant achievement post apartheid. In stepping down as president, he created an African precedent - the top man can go without having to die first.
"reverse racism"... I love that phrase. Because racism is what white people do to brown people.
I'm all for jailing em. Problem is peter suttcliffe could be PM.
Why not? We've already had Tony Blair, whose decisions killed a lot more than Sutcliffe.
Nelson is not a bad sort, more statesman like than most of them, but certainly not the 'walk on water' character portrayed by the media idiots and the filth hanging from his coat-tails.
I suppose he is a variation of the 'JB' mentioned by Bernard in Yes Minister.
I hate all the Mandella worship.
He's a convicted terrorist who killed people.
It really is as simple as that.
Saint he is not (& never has been - aside from the terrorism, just ask his women!).
@TDK has it.
Has he re-offended? ..... no you say?
PRISON WORKS!
We got McGuinness and Adams, they got Mandela, so unfair.
Can't we send Blair and Brown to Canvey Island for 25 years?
You have a valid point about blair, you could argue that blair was 99.9% more deadly and should be sedated and sent to broadmoor.
Can't we send Blair and Brown to Canvey Island for 25 years?
I might detest Canvey but not even I would inflict those two on the residents there. It would be more fitting to confine the two of them to the constituencies they each represented for so long on the basis of "you kept electing them, therefore you can bloody well keep them!"
Mandela seems to have mellowed fairly well, and IFAIK doesn't pop up on the 'rentaquote retread politician' circuit much.
But he was the original Saint Obama - held up as a former terrorist who'd turned to peace, even though his farewell speech included
"..we dare not forget that the liberation movement in all its formations was in the first place responsible for freeing all of South Africa from an oppressive system."
His other main achievement (with Oliver Tambo) was to tell the hordes of politicised, angry youth on the streets to go to school!
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