Politic politicians? Indeed

Limbo fascinates me. Ash clouds, waiting for the smoke at the Vatican, the Copenhagen climate change conference, that sort of thing. TV news people blurting out every possible scenario, interviewing pompous know-it-alls who spend hours catastrophizing, the sophisticated mathematics that goes into figuring out what COULD or MIGHT happen IF all these certain specifics are true. The total loss of control evokes interesting responses.

And so, in Britain, we wait, to see if some sort of 'coalition' can happen between groups which mildly dislike each other on the best days. Here is where we see the true heart of a politician; what is he (always a he; that's another post) willing to compromise? What is he staunchly refusing to change? And how can a party keep the respect of the people if it is so quick to give up that which it holds dear?

It's like the Gore/Bush/Dangling Chads (in the state where my brother is governor) debacle in 2000, only this time it's up to the parties to decide. Someone is going to have to lose, and any compromise will potentially alienate people. All the leaders are waxing lyrical with 'whatever is best for the country' blether and I hope they do, indeed, remember that it isn't about ego. Gordon Brown epitomized this in his speech yesterday where he promised to step down as Labour leader.

And so we wait.