The spectacle of two human beings undergoing what amounts to a slow motion car crash should fill us with deep sadness. Instead, we are the jackals with cameras seeking to capture every nuance of the tragedy so that we may wallow in Schadenfreude, that compelling release of our own follies. And what was it all for? Ambition. But ambition for what? To be courted by the same jackals who now feed on our demise? To be part of government? But in reality, what do politicians actually govern, let alone change for the better? The ambitious seek out the greasy pole like Pavlov's dogs. Doesn't all this tell us as much about ourselves as it does about the two people whose lives lie in pieces before us?
The lie that was told, again and again, is the lie that underpins the very fabric of our political life. Isn't lie what politicians are supposed to do? Just consider our political class for a moment. The three main leaders each leave their expensive London homes every morning intent on rubbishing whatever the other might be caught saying so as to score some point, the relevance of which escapes almost everyone but themselves. Are the issues of the day actually discussed? What should Europe be? Should we be burdening our children and grandchildren with the costs of extracting a few more years of life for those who have already lived full lives? Does it really make sense for so much power to be centred on Westminster, when the great majority of problems could be better dealt with in the regions?
Occasionally, people find a way to make their voice heard above the Westminster babble, but like all protest movements their energy soon dissipates into the sands of inconsequential ambition. And now we read that the fearless debaucher of opinion has invited Nigel Farage for a meal and a chat. With a system as corrupted as ours, it is surprising that as many people bother to vote as do. And it was defending all this, by wishing so strongly to be part of it, that has brought two people to the edge of darkness. Perhaps they are the lucky ones. The rest of us remain trapped inside the sewers with no discernable way out.