I have a number of topics to rant about this week.  This is not intended to be a ‘weekly’ column, it’s just that I’ve not had a lot of time to rant, so I will attempt to spew my ire on as many things as I can remember, and get completely and utterly worked up so you don’t have to.

In Zimbabwe, mercifully now free of that despotic devil Robert Mugabe, they have just had the first ‘free & fair’ elections since Mugabe seized power for himself back in 1980.  And you can tell that they’re out of practice.  There have been accusations of vote-rigging, protests on the streets so severe that the army has been deployed, and soldiers of that army have found it necessary to shoot to kill three of those protesters.  And Mugabe isn’t even involved.  That, as you can imagine, is not good.  While I certainly condone protest if they have evidence that their elections have been tampered with, I do not condone violence from either side.  It just doesn’t work and it robs those of an opportunity to experience any more of life than someone with a gun says they can.

And who sent the army out?  The ruling party, Zanu-PF.  Who led that party and the country for 38 years?  Robert Mugabe.  And who is being accused of vote-rigging, causing Zanu PF to send out the military?  Zanu PF.  Are you starting to join the dots?  That’s right, dear reader, one cannot help but wonder if Mugabe is behind it all, pulling all the strings.  And even if he isn’t, it would appear that the party he has left behind is every bit as corrupt as he is/was.  Still, it could be simply that the MDC Alliance is miffed that it was unable to unseat the party that has ruled for almost four decades and that President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who said after Mugabe was ousted that we would see a different Zimbabwe now, is actually the leader the people want.  That surprises me, but there we are.  I thought the UN put people in there to ensure we have ‘free & fair’ elections in countries where they are either rare, have a reputation for rigging, or some other reason; and indeed, monitors were allowed into the country for the first time in 16 years, but where were they?  The African Union, according to the BBC, said the elections were ‘peaceful’ but could not confirm any rumours of vote-buying.  Huh?

UPDATE: The election was called, and the result is in favour of incumbent President Mnangagwa.  His share of the vote was – and sit tight – 50.8%!  Yep.  Point eight per cent above half.  Yes, technically that’s a majority, but it couldn’t have been closer if it had been a Brexit Referendum.  Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa won 44.3%, which gives us, hang on, a total of 95.1%, meaning that ‘the rest’ of the candidates enjoyed 4.9% between them.  Given the somewhat volatile nature of the Zimbabwean people, as demonstrated in the last few days, then this result is not going to be the end of it.  Indeed, the opposition leader has already discredited the result, calling it unverified, and was basically announcing himself as the winner of the election to anyone who would listen.  But I agree with the government over there that such violent protests cannot be tolerated.  Peaceful protest is one thing, and in situations like this, if you don’t get your own way through peaceful protest, tough.  Mugabe is gone.  You have more freedom, but do not think that this now gives you the right to kill people, and petrol-bomb buses.

Official Saviour of the World Jeremy Corbyn has, as I’m sure many of you in the UK will know, has been targeted by the Government, by opponents in his own party, and by the media, ever since he became the leader of the Labour Party back in September 2015.  It was inevitable, wasn’t it?  Someone who, at the time, was something like 66/1 on becoming leader, last in the opinion polls, that sort of thing; and, more importantly, someone who actually believed in the principles and practices of the Labour movement, and not simply someone who could stand in the middle of the political divide and win votes from both Labour and Conservative voters.

Recently, Mr. Corbyn has been in trouble again.   He had been accused of membership of a number of groups on Facebook which support the Palestinian cause and furthermore featured a number of antisemitic comments made by others in the group.  No antisemitic comment is justifiable by the way; so don’t go accusing me of suggesting that, just because such a comment was made by another it is somehow OK – it is not.  We are simply talking here about the notion of ‘guilt by association.’  Some jackoff in Tennessee makes an idiotic redneck comment while Corbyn is out campaigning, and it is Corbyn who shoulders the blame.

More recently – and remember, Corbyn’s opponents are looking for something, anything, that will bring him down – Corbyn was accused of defending an antisemitic mural that was removed by the local council in London’s East End.  Corbyn, according to the man himself, at any rate, was defending free speech as a concept, without paying too much attention to the mural’s contents, which were antisemitic and had been taken down after a number of residents had complained.  That’s Whoops 1, Corbyn 0.  Even if Corbyn’s version of events is true, it’s still a pretty stupid thing to do on two counts: one, not studying the mural, and two, not contending the fact that the concept of free speech does not, and should never, incorporate hate speech.  That’s Whoops 2, Corbyn 0.

I for one was looking forward to the day when Jeremy Corbyn would take over from Theresa May as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, but one must be aware that, in doing so, it would have to be at some degree of personal and political cost; otherwise, the media will never leave him alone.  That is a very sad fact that needs to be faced up to.  Anyone who is not Conservative cannot lead a party, and more importantly a country, based on principle alone.  And even the Tories would struggle if, for example, Boris Johnson, or Jacob Rees-Mogg, or any of those ‘hard-right’ Conservatives became PM.

Do I still want Jeremy Corbyn to become Prime Minister?  Absolutely yes.  Do I recognise that there will be trouble ahead, should that event ever occur?  Oh, yes.  Corbyn would struggle to last one single term in office because of the knives that would be out to get him.  They may be knives of truth, they may be knives of fiction – who knows?