The Liberal Leader of the Woeful Countenance

Somewhere in La Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember, a nobleman lived not long ago, one of those who has a lance and ancient shield on a shelf and keeps a skinny nag and a greyhound for racing.

Don Quixote
Miguel de Cervantes
Translated by Edith Grossman

Or if you prefer the musical:
KNIGHT OF THE WOEFUL COUNTENANCE
From Man Of La Mancha

Hail, Knight of the Woeful Countenance,
Knight of the Woeful Countenance!
Wherever you go
People will know
Of the glorious deeds
Of the Knight of the Woeful Countenance!
I like Rick Salutin's article on the Liberal Buddy Show. The Don Quixote comparison is very apt.

Or are they Don Quixote and Sancho Panza? The lanky, dreamy hero and his realistic sidekick. Funny how both models fit. A guy desperate to give an impression he thinks will impress needs a grounded buddy along.

And his advice for coalition opponents is wonderful.

P.S. I'm really tired of people saying, "We didn't vote for a coalition." That's the definition of a coalition - something you didn't vote for because what you did vote for didn't work out on anyone's side and you need a majority of votes to run a government.

If you had voted for a coalition, it wouldn't be a coalition, it would be The Coalition Party or something like that. You didn't vote to lose your job or get cancer or have that bridge washed out on your trip either. Unexpected, undesired things happen, so people improvise, they cope, they rig up new arrangements. Sometimes it's even for the best.

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