Political rodeo

I must say upfront I like the fact that Lorne Doerkson, leader of B.C.'s victorious Tory party, was once a rodeo rider (bareback bronc).
That tells me he's likely a down-to-earth person. After all, dirt is what you frequently eat in a sport that has more ups and downs even than politics.
Doerkson, in fact, has every right to say, when the going in Victoria gets especially rough, "son, you must understand, this is not my first rodeo."
No, the problem with politics is not its instability. It's that politicians tend to get wedded to trains of thinking -- or ideologies -- they're convinced will provide all the answers.
As the much-hated (and much-loved) Margaret Thatcher was reported as saying, "the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."
The old saying about capitalism, of course, is that "the trouble with capitalism is capitalists". The greedy people, in other words, get too greedy -- and the gap between the rich and the poor too wide.
The worst thing about elections, though, is not the winning or losing. It's the gloating that so often follows them -- from supporters of the victors. It's ugly and unnecessary.
So, when you're happy with the result, please show some respect for others who aren't. The next election is always just down the road. So is the next rodeo.