This isn't exactly news

Dogs bark. Cats purr. Politicians lie. It is the nature of the beast. They lie to gain office, then compound their lies to hold onto office.

One of Australia’s longest-serving prime ministers, John Howard, was known by the sobriquet “Honest Johnie” when he was leader of the opposition. He soon revealed his true colours when he became premier. Questioned about a string of broken election promises, he disingenuously replied that he had not lied because these were not “core promises”, they were “non-core promises”. That remarkable piece of double-think has passed into the Australian political lexicon.

What amuses me is that politicians in Australia, and many other places around the world, are given the honorific “honourable member” when elected to parliament. This has to be the greatest oxymoron since “military intelligence”, for there is nothing honourable about this dishonourable breed.

David Brown

Rayong