After yesterday, and my standard rant on the lousy state of the democratic imperative, today deserves a re-assessment.
From before first light, the news was all about the upcoming Autumn Statement, the briefings, the guesses, the released headers. And the arguments to and fro, even before an official word has been spoken.
And it will no doubt result in even more wordage in subsequent days, some of them probably mine.
But for once, the One O’clock News on Radio 4 got it right. The first, and most important, and saddest, and most uplifting news story was the guilty verdict in the trial of the person who murdered Jo Cox.
And she was put front and centre, as she should be, and should always be.
If there is ever to be one picture, one representative, in these days and into the future, of what real democracy means, then her life, and the taking of it, is its perfect example.
She was dedicated, driven, and aspirational for the people she represented. But more, she was a wife and mother. A total, rounded, real, extraordinary ordinary person.
She was who she was because of where she came from, and where she wanted to take her home town. She was who she was because of those close to her. She was who she was because of what she saw was wrong, and her drive to put it right.
She was a unique individual. But she is not the only one. There are others out there with the same drive and aspirations, the same commitment to their home, their community, their country.
And xenophobia, racism, misogyny, and the exploitation of people’s fears and isolation, will not stop them and what they represent.
Jo Cox represents everything that can be good within the political discourse, and the narrow sectarian rantings of post-truth buffoons will not silence them, even when they are taken from us far too soon.
And Brendan Cox is the ongoing demonstration of what real, honest and powerful humanity really means.
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