Dear Editor,

In the 1970s, Richard Nixon was caught doing wrong and was forced to resign as President of the United States. He was forced into political and social exile for decades until shortly before his death.

That approach to wrongdoing in government is fairly common in developed countries. It is a part of a system of accountability. It is one of the things that make these countries successful. It also forces political parties to develop succession plans and renew themselves. This is essential as new ideas plus new approaches equal continued progress.If a politician tells us that he wasted our money to benefit his party, why doesn’t our truth-teller watchdog, that is, the media, hound him with it every time he opens his mouth in public? If a politician is tarnished in a scandal – or two or three – why isn’t he hounded out of political life?

Do we have collective low self-esteem or is it something else? Could it be that we haven’t changed at all from the bad old colonial days when the better classes were untouchable?

It is felt that back then everything was decided in their drawing rooms over cigars and brandy.

Claude Russell

jackreb65@yahoo.com