THERE'S NEVER BEEN A WORSE TIME TO BE THE GOOD GUY.
If you're a halfway decent human with a degree of compassion for your fellow man, whatever you do, don't run for public office.
Take Jeremy Corbyn who is patently a good man. He wins the Labour leadership battle by a margin that most politicians would kill to have. Then just 24 hours later, over half his party proclaim him to be unelectable.
WTF? Huh? Why?
All good questions. I suspect it's because he doesn't fit the mould and sadly that mould seems to require aggression, belligerence and a willingness to nuke the enemy. Of course, they always say this is the last resort. Give me a break. It's the last of everything.
'When the air becomes Uraneous, we will all go simultaneous: Lloyds of London will be loaded when we go'.
This little ditty was penned by Tom Lehrer back in the 60's. It's so self-evidently true, I cannot understand any leader who's willing to use the nuclear deterrent.
Corbyn labelled those leaders as maniacs. Sadly the maniacs are in power and Corbyn is a long, long way from No. 10.
He's not tall enough. He doesn't project strength and the fact that he's held the same views since he was 16 prompts people to dismiss him as 'a student activist', rather than praise him as a man of principle.
Take a leap across the ocean to the US of A and blow me down if they don't have the same problem.
Bernie Sanders, another good man, whose sense of fairness energised so much of the electorate, is now Sideshow Bob, forced to endorse Hillary Clinton.
And who can blame him when you look at the alternative? The fact that Trump is on the ballot, with a chance of sitting in the Oval Office, boggles the mind and rattles the brain.
His rise to the top of the Republican Tree is a mystery so intricate that it cannot be solved. Not even by the Republicans.
So sitting on the bench you have Cobyn and Sanders. Too short, too bald, too even-tempered, too 'nice' to lead. The mould is too entrenched to be broken.
Angela Merkel, who deserves inestimable credit for her policy toward migrants, now has a burgeoning right-wing party breaking down the door.
'Nice guys finish last', once a sporting truism, has spread to engulf our leaders.
We keep electing bullies in the mistaken belief that only they can stand up to other bullies.
In the meantime, migrants flee for their lives and we look away. No-one seems to be aware that under international law, countries are legally obliged to help.
War crimes are being committed daily. And not just by the usual suspects. The British army has sanctioned barbaric behaviour on the battlefield.
Who knows where it will end?
But here's a good start. Throw away all religious books and instead rely on science to probe the mysteries of life. That way we can stop people fighting over ancient fictional texts.
Of course it has about as much chance of happening as Corbyn going on a state visit to meet Sanders.