The coming U.S. presidential election has raised questions about what kind of man or woman you want in government – electability is a key word in the endless rounds of punditry which sustain 24 hour news channels (the more shrill they get, the more bizarre, and often the more entertaining. Watching people try to top each other’s extreme views can be quite a sight). Movies like Charlie Wilson’s War, about an alcoholic, womanising Texan congressman who masterminded the removal of the Soviets from Afghanistan, and so (arguably) contributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall eight months later, make you wish you could elect that guy – he may be imperfect, but he knows how to get things done. There is a certain reassurance to knowing someone’s flaws, rather than them pretending perfection and pandering to the broadest possible electoral fanbase.
Republican nominee John McCain has flashes of this. During the 1950s at Naval Academy, he was a regular member of The Century Club, earning 100 demerits a year for violations of conduct – he was nicknamed ‘McNasty’ for his fiery temperament, and ‘John Wayne’ McCain for his way with the ladies. Such was the strength of his kung fu in love, this third generation naval man also operated as a love doctor, dispensing pearls of romantic wisdom to his less adept classmates. Of course, being a lothario and graduating fifth from bottom of your class does not guarantee skilled governance; but being open about such things implies a comfort with oneself that a leader needs. He may be a little old at 71, but one can’t imagine this would stop him.
He is certainly a more entertaining prospect than Jon Bon Jovi, who has political designs on the governor’s seat of New Jersey. Despite its less than salubrious reputation, the Garden State is home to more millionaires than any other in the U.S. – so Mr Bongiovi would have more potential financial muscle than even Arnold Schwarzenegger were he to run for the White House from his native state (even if some of them might be gangsters). One can only shudder to think that Bono might tread a similar path, in the future – making history as the first political leader to wear shades 24/7. Still, life is more interesting where the big beasts roam – imagine what everyday existence would be like if this one-ton ratstill walked our streets. Or if the giant penguin could be found waddling across gardens in winter.
If you’re talking colourful characters, few come more intriguing – or more sinister – than the Norwegian art infiltrator Kjartan Slettemark, who travelled to New York in the 1970s with a passport that fused his identity with that of Richard Nixon – and walked the streets dressed as a poodle. A life size statue of him stands in Stockholm’s Moderna Museet, which is worth seeking out should you visit. Find more on this unusual man here.
News hour, with Jerry Caesar 