Me me me

 Politicians come in all shapes and sizes but probably the most important to the citizens they represent is their temperament. During my career as a journalist I covered many politicians in many different countries, some were bombastic, others more mild, some were supremely confident, others more willing to listen to advice. 

The one facet of their behaviour that is supremely important is that they have genuine interest and concern for the people who put them into office, and that the citizens they represent are more important than anything else.

So when I see the Taipei Mayor holding press conferences day after day mostly talking about himself, I see a politician at odds with the position he holds and one who is not fully up to the job. 

Using time in a press conference, which is supposed to be about battling a killer virus, to attack private individuals who spend their time pointing out his faults, or pointing to local media as not reporting his actions as he would like, is hugely insulting to Taipei’s citizens. 

If he is so thin-skinned that he can’t take criticism, or gets upset by political cartoons poking fun at his deficiencies he really should not be in politics in the first place. This together with blaming everyone but himself for the shabby job Taipei seems to be doing with the virus, compared to other cities around the country, shows a worrying degree of insecurity.  

Attacking your critics, together with blaming others for things that go wrong shows palpable political weakness and inability to cope. Which is worrying in these troubled times.

An arrogance to think you are more important than the job is not a good look. Politicians who put party before country are bad enough, someone who puts himself before the people is even worse. 

Let’s count how many times he says ‘I’ and ‘me’ at his next outing before reporters.

《世界繞著我轉》

政治人物有各種樣貌，或者巨大或者渺小，但對他們所代表的公民來說，最重要的應該是他們的氣質/氣度 (temperament)。幾十年的記者生涯中，我報導了許多不同國家的許多政治人物，有的誇誇其談，有的比較溫和，有的非常自信，有的願意聽取建議。

他們行為中極其重要的是，他們真正關心讓他們上任的人，而且這些公民比其他任何事情都重要。

所以當我看到台北市長日復一日召開記者會，花了許多時間談論他自己時，我看到一個政治人物與他所擔任的職位不一致，也不完全勝任那個工作。

在本應與致命病毒奮戰的記者會上，他花時間來指責那些在網路上指出他的錯誤的個人，還有沒有按照他的意願報導他的行為的當地媒體，這對台北市民是極大的侮辱。

如果他臉皮薄 (thin-skinned) 到不能接受批評，或者因為政治漫畫嘲諷他的缺失而感到不悅，那麼他真的一開始就不應該參與政治。台北在應對病毒方面的工作與全國其他城市相比，在我看來顯然失色，但他似乎認為錯誤在除了他自己之外的所有人，這是一種令人擔憂的不安全感。

攻擊你的批評者，同時將錯誤歸咎於他人，點出明顯的政治弱點和無力應對。 在面臨疫情的困難時期，這令人擔憂。

傲慢地認為自己比工作更重要，這可不是什麼好看的。把政黨放在國家之前的政治人物已經夠糟了，把自己放在人民之前的更糟。

讓我們數一數他下次在記者會上說「我」的次數。

實用單字 thin-skinned

To be thin-skinned is to be sensitive, especially to criticism and slights. Thin-skinned people are quick to take offense.