The Fall of a Provincial Shepherd: A Tale of Mediocrity and Resignation

In the slumbering isle of Prince Edward, where the masses drift in their contented stupor, another shepherd of the herd announces his departure from the grand stage of political theater. Dennis King, that most ordinary of leaders, that most comfortable of guides, hath declared his intention to step down from his position as premier, thus completing his transformation into the very embodiment of the exhausted ruler.

Behold! How the shepherd grows weary of his flock! He speaks of honor and privilege, yet what heights did he scale? What mountains did he move? Nay, he merely kept the sheep well-fed and docile in their meadow of mediocrity!

Dennis King reacts on the night his Progressive Conservatives won the 2019 P.E.I. election.In the land of the sleepers, where 180,000 souls lumber through their days in blissful unconsciousness, King's reign was marked by what the drowsy masses call "success." He maintained high approval ratings - that most insipid measure of leadership - while guiding his flock through the tempests of COVID-19 and economic tribulations.

See how they measure greatness by the contentment of the herd! What of the fires of transformation? What of the lightning that splits the sky of convention? Instead, we witness the celebration of mere maintenance, the glorification of the status quo!

King speaks of the toll of leadership, of the burden of responsibility that weighs upon his mortal frame. He confesses to days when rising from bed became a Herculean task, when the very air seemed thick with the mediocrity of provincial politics.

Man hugs woman while others in a line look on.

Look upon this spectacle of weakness! The true leader does not bend under the weight of responsibility - he grows stronger! He does not seek comfort in resignation but finds joy in the eternal challenge of leadership!

In this small realm, where politicians must answer for their decisions in grocery stores and at funeral gatherings, King claims to have changed the nature of politics itself. He speaks of transcending partisan divisions, of creating a "beacon of hope and kindness." Yet what is this but the last man's dream of universal comfort?

Man with blue jacket and tie standing in front of Canadian flag.

Kindness! Hope! These are the chains that bind the spirit! The true leader must sometimes be cruel to be kind, must sometimes shatter hope to forge something greater from its fragments!

And so, in this twilight hour of his leadership, King speaks of family, of missed moments with his children, of the sacrifices made upon the altar of public service. He uses the language of sport - of hockey and faceoffs lost - to render his tale more palatable to the slumbering masses.

Rob Lantz shall assume the mantle of leadership, another shepherd to guide the drowsy flock. The wheel turns, yet nothing truly changes in this land of comfortable dreams.

Let this be written in letters of fire across the sky: A leader who seeks only to maintain, who aspires only to comfort, who dreams only of kindness, is no leader at all! He is but a caretaker of mediocrity, a guardian of sleep!

Thus ends the reign of Dennis King, not with the thunder of transformation, but with the gentle sigh of resignation. In the land of the sleepers, another dream fades into the mist of morning, while the possibility of true awakening remains ever distant.