Daily Times

What! The Judicial Commission (JC) to probe alleged rigging was not able to find any evidence of organised and planned wrongdoing — also known as rigging — in the 2013 elections? Hard to believe! The buildup before the historic ‘azaadi’ (freedom) and ‘inqilab’ (tsunami) march that was sold to the people as the ultimate analgesic was all an act? The people peddling the nonsense that the nation had finally awakened and the youth going to alter the course of this country by their historic concerts, was it all a sugarcoated, blatant lie? The nightly actors onscreen delivering running commentary with absolute certainty that a grand conspiracy had been hatched, were they just paid puppets and parrots? My list of questions is way too long and I am afraid you will get bored reading it.
This is called the ace from up above. The time, energy and resources spent on carrying out this grand drama of lies could have been well spent on other pertinent and pressing matters but that is asking for too much in the land of the pure. If the nightly ringleaders who were busy creating this circus to keep the circus in business had their way, this show would have lasted till the end of this century! If the readers recall, this scribe had asked in those months a very critical and most pertinent question: who was paying for the show? There is no free lunch and somebody had to foot the bill. Whoever was the grand sucker perhaps he is cursing his luck for getting embroiled into this totally losing proposition.
Lies eventually die their speedy and very embarrassing death. Disillusioned youngsters, who thought that by dancing to the beat of patriotic songs they would be able to bring about a revolution, ought to learn a thing or two from their follies. The disc jockey, who was going to become the entertainment ambassador of this nation, ought to serve as an example for these naïve youngsters. Everything has a cost and you have to bear or barter something. At times, it can be monetary and at times you end up spending or wasting your time, emotions and energies for nothing.
Revolutions do not come at the beat of the drum or, for that matter, on a Dolby sound system. The politico who initiated this hot air and sold it to all and sundry ought to be questioned and by God questioned hard. Why waste so many months on an unnecessary and baseless claim? Why take the people hostage in the capital to earn a nightly slot of releasing the endless hot air of change? The mantra of change has arrived and has finally come true.
Change has finally arrived. The people are able to see who is merely playing with their emotions. The people can see who has been lying to them through every God forsaken platform and by spinning those lies endlessly. The people can finally see that the oft-repeated mantra of change is not going to happen with a magical wand. What a strange coincidence that change has really changed the entire image and the so-called modus operandi of the flag bearers of change. Rather than coming out and admitting that they had messed up royally, these folks are still planning on coming up with a new twist to cover up their damning embarrassment. The order of the day is how to latch on to this total disaster and still play the aggrieved.
Better sense has not prevailed and chances are it will never prevail. The politics of allegations and falsehood are advantageous because they create the impression of being aggressively honest. So, the people who are unable to separate the wheat from the chaff, and who bluff and run from the truth only follow that tone. Their poor instincts lead them to believe that if someone is levelling such allegations with so much conviction and passion, there must be some merit to such blabber. Unfortunately, that is where the major misunderstanding stems from.
The change that everyone dreams of starts with the attitude of embracing mistakes, recognising failures, embracing facts and moving ahead with the right attitude, and the right frame of mind. Attitudes only change when the thinking changes. Thinking only changes when people focus on positives rather than dwelling on negatives. Politics is the art of the possible and probable. Even if you are at fault, your stature becomes much higher when you admit your follies with an open heart and mind. Be brutally truthful to yourself and about yourself to your followers. Being inflexible and as hard as a rock, and staying firm on a foolhardy stance can eventually not only diminish your image but also ultimately discredit your entire career for good. Hopefully, the folks crying wolf know that the day the real wolf ends up at their door, they will find no one by their side to rescue them.

The writer is a Pakistani-US mortgage banker. He blogs at http://dasghar.blogspot.com and can be reached at dasghar@aol.com. He tweets at http://twitter.com/dasghar