Is Honest Politics Possible? O Independente acaba de publicar um artigo de Aleksandre Kwasniewski surgido em Dezembro no Project Syndicate. Nele faz um retrato de vários tipos de políticos. Um exercício interessante é o de identificar políticos portugueses de acordo com estes tipos. A melhor escolha é invariavelmente a primeira que nos vem à cabeça:

Political dishonesty, it turns out, takes different forms. Let us identify the various types. One type is someone who is a dishonest man or woman to begin with. Such a person will be a dishonest leader, ideologue, or diplomat in any circumstance.

Another type is the well-meaning dilettante. Clumsy and amateurish, the dilettante's actions harm the interests he aims to advance.

Political "gamblers," on the other hand, put competence to bad use. They are skilled but ruthless, lack humility and eschew reflection. The gambler's close kin is the political "troublemaker," who pursues his soaring ambitions by any means necessary, whatever the risks and regardless of the cost to others.

The political "fanatic" is also dishonest, for he is blinded by the conviction that he is absolutely right in all cases. The fanatic is inflexible and inertial, a steamroller ready to flatten everything in his way. By contrast, the political "wheeler-dealer" is no less dishonest, for he lacks what the first President Bush called the "vision thing." He is spineless, devoid of principle, and retreats in the face of responsibility.