Shock! Horror! It is alleged by reputable sources, such as The Guardian, that the Prime Minister, or Taoiseach, of Ireland, His Excellency Brian Cowen, was, um, flewtered/squiffy/stinko when interviewed on an Irish radio program the day after attending an all-night bash at a hotel in Galway. Well, the very idea. An Irish politician drinking? Through the night? Not upholding the standard of rectitude in all things? Gosh. Or rather, shades of Charles Haughey, who was Taoiseach when I last lived in my lovely ancestral land. Charlie was ushered into the gilded evening of life amid allegations that he'd embezzled government funds to acquire a yacht, a private island, and (of course) racehorses.Oh, and he (allegedly) had a fling with the wife of his Chief Justice. He comes with a flawed pedigree, said former Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald (an uncommonly ethical and principled Taoiseach, all things considered; I saw him once, at the Galway Races) at Charlie's funeral in 2006.. ... His motives can ultimately only be judged by God. True, and never mind the private island, yacht, mistress, etc...what could his motives have possibly been?

It was ever thus.