Caligula Queries

Oh dear, I've got Caligula on my tail. Mind you, of all the things I can think of that the infamous emperor might take exception to, my so-called 6xation with Muldoon seems to me rather peculiar.

He claims to have perused my political writing last year. If he has done so, he will be fully aware that, far from harping on about Muldoon all the time, I was careful to concentrate on both the main political parties. Indeed, it would in my opinion be fair to say that one of the consistent political threads running through Salient in 1978 was an analysis of the Labour Party that showed it to be no better than National on all fundamental issues. Far from harping on about Muldoon, we were careful to atttack the policies. As the 1978 Editor, I take responsibility for that.

This year, not being election year, there has not been the same necessity for assessing the parties. Rather, in the articles I have written so far, I have concentrated on new policies and the current performance of the Government. In my opinion the name Muldoon is somewhat synonymous with the name of his party, and I admit to a degree of laxity in using them as such. However, it has always been my intention to review the work of the Government and its leader in the light of the underlying reasons for that work.

I am not one of those people who think that if Muldoon were to suddenly disappear all would be well. But neither do I think he is either a "joke or a bore". Muldoon may well be failing as a "capitalist" (or, as I see it, as a servant of capitalism); that doesn't negate the fact that he and his party try to serve the interests of capitalism.

Perhaps the noted emperor would like to write again to define what s/he means by "socialist-centralist": we could continue our debate on a more constructive level. At the moment, the man and the policies that he fronts up for seem as socialist to me as the rear end of the animal with which he is commonly linked.

I remain, with toga well girt,