Mayors of Simpleton

Change: I'm generally all for it. The reason we got our sorry arses out of the trees and making things like digital watches is because homo sapiens strived to create change for the better and it's not just yer actual inventions that come under this. Concepts such as equality and tolerance come about because some brave soul decided that something wasn't quite right with the world around them.

Sometimes, though, there's change for the sake of it, which is never a good thing. Blogger has recently introduced a new system for writing and publishing drivel like this, and to be frank it's a load of old crap. What was wrong with the old one? Nowt. It's better to just tweak things than bring in huge changes some of the time.

Which brings me, kind of, to this whole concept of elected Mayors that's doing the rounds at the moment. I'm not entirely sure if it's not just a lot of fuss over something that will make little or no difference to our lives. Though I think I might be being put off the idea by the palaver going on down in That London. The fact that a lot of people can be convinced to vote for someone like Boris Johnson is enough to put you off democracy, let alone anything else. Comedian Jeremy Hardy is one of the few people in the media to get it bang on when he said "He may seem like a lovable buffoon, but you know he wouldn't hesitate to line you all up against a wall and have you shot".

Which is bang on, really. If he'd been born 100 years earlier, he'd have been a real life General Melchett from Blackadder Goes Forth, sending thousands upon thousands of men to be slaughtered while enjoying a nice cup of tea. 

Everyone else, it seems, are happy to give Johnson plenty of publicity to portray his public image as a harmless idiot. He seems to bring out the worst aspects in the English psych of tipping our hat and deferring to the posh guy, because, y'know, they're the ones born to rule and all that.

Not that I'd unequivocally give my support to Ken Livingstone either - he's kind of a George Galloway lite, a huge ego overwhelming any good intentions he may have. Which is a shame, as he was one of the few politicians in the 1980s who supported gay rights and knew that if you wanted peace in Northern Ireland, you were going to have to talk to the IRA eventually.

Mind, he could probably do with all the support he can garner. When you have members of your own party putting the boot in it's not looking too good. And that's before you get into Lord Alan Sugar telling everyone that Kenny isn't the man for him. Nothing wrong with that, of course, free speech and all. But then  

Of course, that Alan Sugar should have been given a Peerage by a Labour government says a lot. That a man whose principal goal in life, it seems, is the accumulation of capital, whose catchphrase is "you're fired" should be rewarded in such a way tells you everything about how the Labour party has moved from their apparent core values.

Mind, I wonder how many people could actually say how Sugar has made his wedge? All I know is that he made some crap computers back in the 1980s and was Chairman of Spurs through a period best known for his falling out with manager Terry Venables. Does he actually do much bar shout at idiots on TV these days?  At least with Branson the Beard you know you're looking at a top class businessman - and if nothing else his record label put out both Metal Box and Dare. Shame they screwed over XTC, mind. With Sugar, I just think of the twat who killed off the ZX Spectrum. Wanker!