"People get the government they deserve"

Or do they?
An email debate on what happened: time for a massive correction on the leadership front. So true.
Was it a failure at a strategic, operational or tactical level? Strategic failure would imply we actually have a strategic focus on an issue such as this. We don't. It's not the first time it's happened to us.... but unlike all the other times, it is the first time that our so called leadership has demonstrated a level of congenital stupidity and callousness that just leaves you wondering if you're in a badly directed sitcom. To say I'm inclined to be biased, is well, an understatement. South Bombay is where I grew up, my home. And even if no one had died, I would have wanted to see political carcases at a bare minimum for the trauma caused to my city.
Given our laughable political leadership, I would want to see Bombay governed independent of Maharashtra and even the Centre. Not a union territory, but a corporation, run by a CEO with a management board accountable to its shareholders, who's only mandate is to do what is best for that city. Be it the creation of a single agency to handle emergency responses, deal with intelligence, issue building permits, plan mass transit systems, maintain law and order or clean up the sewage system. Not being systematically raped by a steady stream of politicians who have turned a state government into little more than a revolving door to unscrupulous wealth creation.
It makes me cringe, but we have stood by and watched the endemic corruption and politically motivated rhetoric invade every part of our life. Our police force has been employed in clearing the streets of hormonally challenged teenagers... unspeakable threat to national security that they are. We have tolerated thugs shutting the city down at will, causing untold damage to property and life without the fear of any reprisals. 'Managing' the authorities - tax, bmc, police.... has become a way of life. It's not the what you know, it's who you now.... We stood by and watched as Bombay turned into another Delhi. Honest, cornerstone restaurants turn into trendy, fusion eateries. Children below the age of 6, acutely aware of status.....
Spectators, watching the decline of a metropolis, her government, her infrastructure, her uniqueness.
Maybe we have gotten the government we deserve.