The argument that what politicians say is not to be taken seriously, though, seems thoroughly daft, to me. When politicians speak, they are acting. Politics is, 99.9 per cent speech. What is *not* important in politics, politics being public acts, are the private thoughts of the politicians. What Kennedy or Wilson thought in private is of no consequence. What they did in fact, is. And amongst public figures, whose words are taken seriously, speaking publicly is an act.