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Let Politicians Drink. Then We’ll Know What They Are Up To

October 7, 2009

Drinking For Politicians Should Be Obligatory. Then At Least We’ll Know What They Are Up To I always feel sorry for politicians who get too much to drink and then find themselves in hot water.

Rememeber that Japanese Finance Minister, Shoichi Nakagawa, who had to step down several months ago after appearing at a press-conference at the G7 meeting (Russia, embarrassingly for Moscow, is not a member of the financial part of the G8 line-up that is why it is called G7) in Rome, looking distinctly unsteady and shaky and confused.

He mumbled his answers, rolled his eyes wildly, and made a couple of serious blunders by mixing facts and figures and answering questions that were not directed at him. Most of the journalist had a good laugh at his expense and later some of his answers were posted on the Internet to the delight of many.

Well, the poor man was forced to resign and several days ago committed suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills. Sad, very sad.

We, at StirringTroubleInternationally, think that it was deeply unfair to push Nakagawa out of his job, even if he did get drunk in Rome and made a total fool of himself at that press conference. Why is it, we ask, that politicians are allowed to behave like cretins when they are sober – remember former President George Bush, or Bill Clinton in his first two years in office? – and yet when some of them get loaded and appear in public they get crucified? It is just not right. It makes a mockery of politicians’ human rights and our right to have a bit of fun at their expense.

If you think about it carefully, it actually makes sense for voters to see their politicians intoxicated, from time to time. When people get drunk, they drop their guard and say things that they would have never dared to reveal had they been in control of themselves. Just imagine for a second George Bush and Tony Blair getting plastered at Camp David when they finally decided to attack Iraq in 2003 and facing the world media. They were bound to let it slip that they did not give a damn about the United Nation’s opinion, or anybody else’s opinion for that matter, on the legality of the war.

Bush: ‘And I said to my buddy, Tony, hic, hic: Yo, Tony, gimme a high five and let’s tell those motherf..kers in the Nations United to go f..k themselves. Weapons or no weapons, we’re going in to kick ass in Iraq. No one tries to whack my daddy and gets away with it!’ (Throws up in the end.)

Blair: ‘George, hic, hic, is right, you know. He is always right. He has, hic, hic, instincts. He often can’t express them, hic, hic, but his instincts are always right. He is a good man, a good man. He promised to look after me if I went along with him on this one. So we sexed up the intelligence a bit. Ha, ha, ha! 45 minutes needed for Iraq to attack us! That was a good one…’ (Throws up in the end.)

Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin was very open about his drinking and the Russian people felt comfortable with that. They knew what to expect from their President and he did not let them down. Remember what fun it was to watch him, horsing around after a few stiff ones? Or not see him at all when he failed to materialise from that plane in Ireland on his way back to Russia from America? That introduced a completely new dimension to world politics: visiting other countries without showing yourself to your hosts.

By the way, you might not know this, but at one point all the Kremlin advisors and aides got together and went to see Mr Yeltsin, asking him to stop drinking for the sake of the nation. And he responded well to that. Stayed off the booze. For a whole day. Showed everyone what real willpower was all about.

And Winston Churchill, one of the greatest politicians of all time, was known for his love of a good drink. That did not stop him from winning the war, did it? And coming up with all those wonderful quotes of his. If you think about it, Mr Churchill did nothing else but come up with clever one-liners. He had a special liking for Armenian brandy that could compete with the best French cognacs and Joseph Stalin, the Soviet dictator, sent him an occasional case of the stuff. To lubricate Russo-British relations during the Second World, so to speak, and keep his dear friend Winston tipsy for most of the time. And no one saw anything wrong with that.

But seriously: it would be so much easier to monitor politicians if they appeared drunk in public. And it would be much more fun to watch them. And when they would sober up the next day they just might feel a bit embarrassed and who knows: maybe they will do something worthwhile and positive for a change. Which is probably expecting too much from them.

– End –

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One Response to “Let Politicians Drink. Then We’ll Know What They Are Up To”

  1. John Nicoll on March 2nd, 2009 11:57 am

    Thanks for your lucid comments on the three ring circus which is public life to-day!!!!!!!!!!!

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