In spite of all my misgivings about democracy, or what passes for democracy nowadays, I went to vote today. And I voted for the only opposition party that has a chance of replacing the party now in power. As I like to explain to everyone who still wants to listen to my political musings, even the sultans of old occasionally shuffled their viziers around lest they sprout roots. It is the roots that are the crux of the problem, always and everywhere. The notion of good government is for the birds, anyhow.