We live in a truly golden age of politics.

An federal election contest in Australia between Me-One and Me-Two. A state government in New South Wales where the treasurer knows more about fictitious conspiracy theories than he does about economic globalisation. In New Zealand, when parliamentary debates get boring, they step into the foyer for a bit of biffo. And of course there's America, where the President creates a whole new language to speakify in, and inventorates whole new meanings for existicated words such as "torture".

Closer to home - well, my home anyway - there's Marrickville Council. A Labor Party stronghold until an attempted gerrymander backfired disastrously in 2004. This must be the only place in Australia where the ALP is the conservative opposition, with the Greens holding 5 of the 12 seats, Labor 4 and three independents. The Labor councillors are so Opposed that they consistently decline to sit on any council committees.

Marrickville Council can hold its head high with its recent track record on mayoral elections, with the last two occasions - for both Mayor and Deputy Mayor - being decided by a draw from a hat. The current Mayor of Marrickville is "Size 8 Made in Taiwan", better known as Dimitrios Thanos.

Luck clearly has a lot to do with the democratic process in Marrickville. The latest monthly meeting of the council had to be cancelled on October 16 when, by a staggering coincidence, each of the four Labor councillors, and two of the independents, all rang in sick/late at work/minding kids.

Or in Victor Macri's case, attending a South Sydney Rabbitohs sponsor's night. (Firepower?)

The Glebe takes up the story, and for a bit of background, check out their articles on the mayoral lotteries of 2006 and 2007.