Alexander Hamilton foresaw Malcolm Turnbull

In my opinion at least, the US constitution is one of the most brilliant and most important documents in human history establishing established a framework for democratic governance based on the rule of law, separation of powers, and protection of individual rights.

The entire world is a better place for the efforts of a bunch of white, privileged men in the 1780s.

While not having a major role in its drafting, Alexander Hamilton did play an important role.

As part of the effort to sell the constitution to the American People, there were 85 essays written to explain the underlying thinking and to support the ratification of the US Constitution. Hamilton wrote 51 of these 85 essays.

One of the essays written by Hamilton was Federalist 72 - The Same Subject Continued, and Re-Eligibility of the Executive Considered. In it, Hamilton wrote:

Would it promote the peace of the community, or the stability of the government to have half a dozen men who had had credit enough to be raised to the seat of the supreme magistracy, wandering among the people like discontented ghosts, and sighing for a place which they were destined never more to possess?

Or in contemporary English:

Would it help keep the country peaceful or the government stable if a bunch of former leaders, who were once powerful enough to be president, were now just walking around unhappy, wishing they could be in power again—even though they never will be?

Note also the expression - discontented ghosts.

By my calculation, Australia has 7 former Prime Ministers walking around:

• Paul Keating

• John Howard

• Kevin Rudd

• Julia Gillard

• Tony Abbott

• Malcolm Turnbull

• Scott Morrison

Chances are that, while the members of this “club” may change over time, the number will also increase.

Of this list also, only one seems to be “walking around unhappy, wishing they could be in power again—even though they never will be” - the Hon Malcolm Turnbull.

He regularly ventures into matters of public policy and issues of the day. Regularly.

You see, at least to my mind, Turnbull never really understood that his role was that of a Prime Minister and not King. As cat herder in chief and not supreme leader. He could not declare make it so, but rather had to convince others to agree to make it so. This does not work in you know, a democracy.

Ranting in the media is Turnbull’s trying to prove again how smart and wise he is. Something he could not do while Prime Minister.

In contrast, of the other PMs: Keating and Howard would occasionally speak and Gillard never. But Turnbull, all too frequently. He of the miserable ghost line has himself become a miserable discontented ghost. And the Australian media is insufficient for him. The US and European media is also a requirement.

Perhaps rather than moaning and groaning, he should run for office again to see what people really think of him. It’s far from unheard of of a former Prime Minister standing again for election.

Put up or shut up Malcolm. Or both. Better yet, shut up and go away.