Georgia On Our Mind
‘THE people of Georgia are a hard crowd to please. Losing to England, the eventual winners of the rugby World Cup, is no shame for many but to proud Georgians it placed the tin lid on a box full of disappointments.
| ”Blast that Jonny Wilkinson” |
The Independent says that 60% of the locals live below the poverty line, pensioners live on less than £5 a month and corruption is rife. And then came Jonny Wilkinson to put the boot in.
And so the people rebelled, stormed the countrys parliament, causing the Georgian president, the former Soviet heavyweight Eduard Shevardnadze, who along with Mikhail Gorbachev ushered in the collapse of communism in the former Soviet Union, to resign his office.
The bloodless event is duly dubbed a velvet revolution by the Guardian although, given the impoverished state of the place, something in a polyester and acrylic mix might be more apt.
Or, perhaps, something in Lycra, given that Englands rugby shirts have brought so much pressure to bear on a once solid administration.
As such, the Independents cartoon of Tony Blair pulling on his England jersey, singing Swing Low, Sweet Bandwagon while he does, cannot be far from the truth.
Although before the disgruntled can get to him, the people will first have to deal with the leaders of South Africa, Samoa, Uruguay, Wales, France and Australia…’
Posted: 24th, November 2003 | In: Broadsheets Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
