Don't despair, all hope is lost....

It occurred to me, the other day, as I read the various reports on something that Barrack Obama was doing that had the US split down the middle, that hope is a double edged sword. It was at this point that it dawned on me why the UK election appears to be in a lot of trouble. For one of the first times in my life, I am absolutely without hope. We are going to the polls with no hope of anything getting any better, we are voting on who is the least bad. They may have their negative campaigning, slogans and initiatives on what they will achieve but it all boils down to the fact that we don't like any of them and no-one trusts a politician (that old adage goes without saying).

I have a far better proposal, gladitorial combat. Cameron and Brown in armour with swords, shields and tridents. A fight to the death, winner takes all.....if he gets past the lion. Cameron has age and fitness on his side and probably speed too. Brown has size and strength and probably enough heart to give a good fight. I don't think either of them would survive the lion though. Wouldn't that be a great day out? Popcorn and hotdogs as we watch flabby politicians go to it.
Now if we took this to the international stage, then things could far more fun. Putin Vs Obama? Now that would be an interesting match up. Maybe Obama Vs Bin Laden? Just think of all the disputes that we could settle and the bonus is that whoever has the hardest and toughest leader, wins. Do you think Tony Blair would have gone into all those wars if he thought he'd have to fight them? Maybe Hitler would have thought twice?

In the US, do you remember the scenes when Obama won the election? A girl I know in the UK cried, like many across the Globe, she got caught up in the emotion of the situation. America was in the grip of hysteria brought on by hope. There was absolutely no way that Obama could deliver on that expectation and now we see the US split on the very same Healthcare reforms that were his number one priority when he ran for President. Hope is a double edged sword, on the one hand it motivated a huge amount of the younger US population to vote and to prove that their votes did count for something and they could change the World, on the other hand it gave them hopes that could never be delivered on in the way they expected. They expected a Messiah and got a man.
In the UK we have no hopes left, we are voting for who we believe will be less damaging but we don't even have much faith that we will even get that right. Unlike the Americans who are torn, angry and feeling betrayed, we don't have the burden of hope, we will get on with our lives knowing that taxes go the opposite way to wages, dreams are for fools and if we're lucky, we may get to retire before we die. Don't despair, all hope is lost but at least we won't be disappointed.