On the Other Foot

 

 

No doubt you have heard

“But on the other hand!”

Meaning another reasonable position

Upon which one could stand.

 

But what about

“If the shoe were on the other foot”?

This is the matter

That before you I now put.

 

It is amazing to me

How wrong becomes right

And then with a change of leadership

That right disappears from sight.

 

And what is more intriguing

Is that there is a defining law

But the experts and legal luminaries

Always find an escape clause.

 

And while, my friend,

Much is on my mind,

I will not specify any particular event

At this particular time.

 

I will let you do the roaming

Which I know you do well

Like good teachers develop in pupils,

Rather than just simply tell.

 

Developing an inquiring mind

And searching out the facts

Instead of just accepting social media

And lazily sitting back. 

 

 

So, with that, I put to you:

What if the shoe were on the other foot?

Would you take the same position

Or, simply come up with “But…?”

 

But that was a different time

And that was another occasion,

The conditions were not the same

Oh, a totally different situation!

 

Meaning of course, a different party,

Running the ship of state

And what was wrong for them

Has become right here of late.

 

The incorrect associations then

Are now become lifelines

And all that has really changed

Is that this is a different time.

 

It was a time for change

And so, they got kicked out!

And now it’s our time to take control

And the same very laws flout.

 

I submit most definitely

There would be a different outlook

For this ruling party

If the shoe were on the other foot.

 

Whether “B”, “D” or “PdP”

Ask yourself the question:

What if the shoe were on the other foot

What would be your submission?

 

And if you honestly respond

To the question I put to you,

I am sure your response would be

To take another view.

 

A view that is frank and correct

Irrespective of affiliation,

Motivated by conscious integrity

And befitting our constitution.

 

If the shoe were on the other foot

You would feel the same pain

That the current opposition now feels

Like you, when they flew the plane.

 

But of course,

The more things change,

The more they remain the same.

 

Stewart Russell © October 15, 2022