Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones is a hugely popular HBO series which has
till now successfully completed seven seasons in US. The eighth and concluding
season is being eagerly awaited here with people guessing how the story will
unfold and who will ultimately win the game of thrones. Last year HBO started
screening the series simultaneously in India too. The series is now acclaimed
as the most watched in the history of television. So in case you have missed
out on watching that, better start on it right away so that you can enjoy the
finale with the rest of the world and not have your life ruined by spoiler
alerts later on.
The story, which unfolds in the land of Westeros, begins
after the turbulent reign of Mad King Aerys II of Targaryn dynasty has ended. The character of
Mad King is brought alive through various references in the story. The Mad
King, being mad and king to top it up was obviously not answerable and was
beyond any disciplining by anyone. The viewers have often wondered how the mad
king’s reign would have been portrayed. What atrocities would the Mad King have
performed? How much many more gruesome beheadings and murders would have been
there? But the viewers need not be too concerned, what is unfolding for the
last 18 months or so in US is not much different from the Mad King’s reign in
Westeros.
Of course there are a few differences given the fact that we
live in more “civilized” times (???). Whereas the Mad King would gladly order
“Off with his head” when he found someone just a trifle annoying, the current avatar
of Mad King has to remain content with sacking his minions as and when it
pleases him. And while for those of his enemies who were not directly under his
command the Mad King could order his garrison to throw wildfire balls and send
his army to march against them, the current avatar has his own twitter
gun with which he fires wild volley after wild volley trying to set fire to the
polity which has never seen a king as thoroughly unhinged as this one and
commands his supporters to march to the ballots to overcome any opposition.
But just as the Mad King Aerys II Targeryn met his end at
the hands of Jamie Lannister - a member of his Kingsguard, an elite team of
knights specifically trusted to protect him, it is very likely that this
current avatar would also succumb to the dagger of his once close
confidants. He has already had his Brutus moment “Et tu Michael?” and now it
just remains to be seen if the dagger has gone deep enough.
It is becoming clearer day by day that there is something
rotten in the state of Denmark. The secrecy about what actually transpired at
Helsinki in the one-on-one meeting is puzzling to say the least. How even the
Congress and Senate can be kept in dark about agenda and outcome of such an
important meeting is frankly beyond comprehension. This is surely something
which NO other democracy would EVER allow.
All this has, off course, not gone unnoticed and people
(even Republicans) have begun to talk. The talk about ‘golden shower’ is not
going to go away. It is on record that reporters have asked the most famous
former KGB Lieutenant Colonel “….whether he has any compromat (short for
‘compromising material’) on his counterpart……”. The Helsinki meeting has been
variously described as “annual performance appraisal” and “debriefing by the
handler”. An eminent Democrat even joked on TV whether the next (proposed)
meeting at Moscow would be a “one-way ticket” for you-know-who. There is also a
talk of sending the interpreter at Helsinki to jail where he may be helpful to
you-know-who in penning you-know-who’s memoirs. Better that way than future
historians having to stitch together zillion and a half incoherent tweets and
call those ‘Presidential Memoirs’. A few names which have been suggested (by
me) for such a book are “The Fake President”, “The Trumped-Up President”, “The
Man with a Golden Shower”. Any suggestions from the readers may be sent
directly to the White House.
Next few months are going to be very interesting as the team
of thugs tries every trick in the book and few of their own inventions on
public and judiciary to mislead and block the process. Let us hope that the
mid-term elections can decisively tilt the balance of power and enable the
law-maker undo the mistake that this nation made two years ago.
My friend Guy Wise who is an ardent fan of John Le Carre is furiously working on his book titled “Tinker Tailor Soldier Builder”. Should be a good read but not much of a
mystery I guess.
LazyBee
8th
August 2018
