Of media, opposition party unity and the honesty

In the play, A man of all seasons by Robert Bolt, (King) Henry (VIII), who is agitating for divorce with his wife Catherine, to marry Anne Bolyne, pleads with his Chancellor, Sir Thomas More for his support.

The King’s divorce is controversial, some of his subjects are against it, and he needs maximum support from his nation, in particular his intimate officers; he specifically solicits support from his Chancellor. When the Chancellor wants to know why he insists on his personal support when he enjoys overwhelming support from his people, the King replies:

“Because you are honest. What’s more to the purpose, you are known to be honest…… There are those like Norfolk who follow me because I wear the crown, and there are those like Master Cromwell who follow me because they are jackals with sharp teeth and I am their lion, and there is a mass that follows anything that moves --- and there is you.” Honest, Thomas More replies: “I am sick to think how much I must displease, Your Grace.’’ Throughout man’s political history, the four levels of support, leadership enjoys, are constant: The honest, the loyal, the tenderpreneurs and the blind followers who follow anybody who moves, whether King, President, Kgosi, mayor or VDC chairperson. Inwardly, the leaders know which type of supporter would be good for them -  the honest – but for self-interest, they  are more comfortable with those supporters who are ready to flatter them. The sycophants (malope) are the praise singers, theirs is to Yes-Sir or Yes-Ma’am, the leader everytime the leader opens his/her mouth to speak; tenderpreneurs have a solid motive to please the leader, he/she is the number one patron in their business interests; then there’s the majority who don’t know why they exist;  the type whose favourite interjection when another or others beg to know why things happen as they do, will object that one is talking politics. You know the type: O bua politiki (You’re talking politics)! The honest are very few; the sycophants are there; the loyalists benefit from the leadership and have strong objective to ensure the survival of a happy leadership;  the masses don’t know the differences between  leaders. A leader, whether dictator, autocrat, or clown is leader to be followed to the grave.  After years of one-party rule, opposition party unity, has become the guiding star for removal of the underperforming Domkrag.

Editor's Comment
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