The Dutch Prime Minister has just survived a no-confidence vote over the accusation that he had lied concerning a conversation about shafting a fellow member of parliament who had been critical of his policies. He claimed that he had not lied but had merely suffered a disastrous lapse in his memory. He did, at least, admit memory failure and that he fell short of perfection. A former member of the UK Parliament (Portillo) not too long ago interviewed fellow leaders of the Conservative Party and produced a two-part documentary on the decline and possible fall of that party. I watched both ...