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| To paraphrase Alan Partridge, he looks like an evil headmaster |
In recent days, the media has seen fit to give coverage to the fact that the Orange Order may punish two of its high-profile members for attending a Catholic funeral ceremony. Those two members are Ulster Unionist politicians, Danny Kennedy and Tom Elliott.
Interestingly however, Tom Elliott is being portrayed as a martyr, who does the “honourable thing”, because he's an outstanding leader and an all-round down-to-earth nice guy. “No regrets”, says he.
It would be rather easy to get sucked into the atmosphere of righteousness if one resided in a bubble, but two things in particular come to mind, aside from the fact that all he did was attend a funeral.
Firstly, let's not forget that Tom Elliott is actually a member of the Orange Order – a zealous and archaic religious institution which actually resembles a twisted type of old boys' club not too dissimilar to the club in the children's classic, Little Rascals.
Secondly, we should remember that this is the same man whose so-called brilliant leadership involves childishly branding his political opponents and their supporters as “scum” for mildly celebrating electoral success with cheers and flag-waving.
Lovely guy right? Pure martyr.
He went to the funeral of a Catholic policeman. Big deal.
