Small City States, Big Egos?

"Like the small city states of Ancient Greece, which produced artists, philosophers, traders and sportsmen of lasting achievement, we can and do excel in many different ways" - Sir Philip Bailhache, Christmas Speech 2008

It always amazes me how pretentious some people can be - and people take them seriously? Can it really be that we have in our midst:

Plato Le Sueur, the Wise Philosopher King, not perhaps the people's choice, but then Plato did say that the best ruler was the wisest ruler, i.e., himself.

Parmenides Cohen: Believer in an unchanging (office) block universe.

Thales Southern: According to Thales, a man can better bear adversity if he sees that his enemies are worse off.

Anaximander Ozouf: he postulated that the indefinite was the source of all things.

Critias Le Main: He proved to be a tormented personality, displaying many complexes.

Gorgias Maclean: He paid particular attention to the sounds of words, which, like poetry, could captivate audiences.

Pythagoras Le Herissier: followers of the principle that if a man was "in doubt as to what he should say, he should always remain silent" - and no doubt sit on any ancient Greek fences.

Socrates Syvret: A perpetual gadfly, the sort of annoying politician that some would see as corrupting, and would love to offer some hemlock.

and if we can extend the list to include noble Romans:

Juvenal Macon: Need one say more?

Cicero Le Marquand: The Great Orator and Lawyer

Cato Walker: Ended up being shafted on his own sword.

I don't notice many States members of the athletic Spartan persuasion, nor do I wish to imagine (except in nightmares) any of them fighting naked and oiled in the Spartan manner, so we'll leave that out of the equation.

The Bailiff himself? Obviously - Diogenes Bailhache. Only someone who lived in a barrel would need to scrape the bottom of it for such pompous ideas.

I will, however, miss the Bailiff. He always has an unerring knack of coming out with stuff that is tailor made for humourists to pick up and use, and I am sure that his successor will not be nearly so obliging in providing material that has its own inbuild comic absurdity.