THE P.M. & THE POPE – By Des Kelly

Both are very much in the news as I write this piece of “BREAKING NEWS” for eLankan readers in Australia at the moment, 90% of whom are sick to their back teeth, of what goes on, both in Canberra & Vatican-City right now. As regards to Prime Ministers, firstly, I know that, like me, quite a few of us were not too good at Arithmetic (in school), &, as such, it is difficult to keep track of how many P.M’s we have seen, come & go, recently. We elect them, hoping for the best, only to see them challenged for this “position” that, to my thinking, change even their young “good looks” into wrinkled, pasty-faced individuals, sometimes even seeming to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. If one was broke, homeless, downtrodden, unemployed & already depressed, I could well understand them trying out for this job, in Canberra, because, any job is better than no job, but, let’s take Malcolm Turnbull, our present P.M., for instance.

An intelligent, well-dressed, affluent man, he certainly looks the part,& could possibly buy half of Canberra, including Parliament House, is now fighting to save his job.

I have nothing against Peter Dutton, the late Home Affairs Minister, who has 34 other Ministers on his side, hoping that HE will be Australia’s 30th Prime Minister. To set the record straight, when a good-looking young Aussie Cop, first came into Canberra, he had a full head of hair, acted tough (even if he did have a compassionate heart), successfully stopped the boats, as our former Immigration Minister, but look at him now. I am sure that he did not shave his head on purpose, and I certainly hope he will not challenge the 48 other Ministers in Parliament for a job that will put as many wrinkles on his face as famous good-looking Journo, Barry Cassidy (See “Aunty” Channel 2).

At the moment, apart from his hairless pate, Peter is not at all wrinkled, but watch him if he gets the job of P.M.

My view (take it, or leave it), is that Australia should STOP swapping Prime Ministers at all. They do not take on this responsible job for fun. I am sure that each one of them want to do their very best to secure a second term in Government. In addition to getting their “pictures” on the walls of this superb building in Canberra, I am sure that they do try their very best to serve Aussies in general, so, if they don’t, DO NOT elect them or their Government to be our Servants ( ha ha), the next time around. It’s as simple as that. I am not sure if Malcolm will turn the bull around (pardon the pun), or if Bill will shorten the odds to become Australia’s new P.M., but, given the choice, my pick for our next P.M. would be the present Foreign Minister, the Hon. Julie Bishop. At least, there would be no apparent baldness, she looks so very much better than the guys, and, despite all the responsibility accepted, seems to look younger as she grows older. Besides this, I looked very closely at my television screen and couldn’t even pick one wrinkle.

So much for Prime Ministers. As all my readers will see, there is very little knowledge of politics, on my part, all I know is that we, Lankan/Aussies elect them, then expect them to look after us, especially oldies, like several people I know. Pensioners, in total, are getting a “bum-rap” at the moment, but that is another story.

Now, personally, I know even less about Pope Francis & Vatican-City. He is a very good Catholic (there I go, stating the obvious, again), different, in that he moves around the World, much more than many of his predecessors, named after St.Francis (one of the holiest Saints of the Roman Catholic Religion), BUT, writing personal letters, your Holiness, is not enough to apologise for the atrocious behaviour of a percentage of the Catholic Clergy (granted, it is only a low percentage), but, as I am a Roman Catholic myself, I do know that every single Catholic priest has to take the vow of celibacy, BEFORE he dons on his priestly robes. Pope Francis should legislate the fact that if any young man is uncertain that he could, in fact, be celibate for the rest of his life, as a Priest, he SHOULD NOT be admitted into the Priesthood. Bishops, Archbishops, Cardinals, ANYONE who knowingly protects these scumbags that go around raping young boys and girls, should be immediately defrocked and dismissed from the Priesthood, if found legally guilty, of course. If anyone can do it, Pope Francis can. What has already happened, is unfortunately “Too late for regrets”, but, if a victim comes forward, proves that he/she was sexually molested by a Priest or Brother,or Nun, and it wouldn’t matter how many years have gone by, Pope Francis must send out an order that suitable compensation must be made. Believe me, Vatican-City can afford it.