An increasingly irrelevant Dáil threatens the purpose of democracy

KO-KO and Pooh-Bah were the only courtiers who mattered in Titipu. Ko-Ko was the Lord High Executioner, the most important member of the court. He had an unfortunate background, having been taken from the county jail to be elevated to his high position.

Pooh-Bah was the Lord High Everything Else. They both served the Mikado loyally, despite that personage’s rather odd temperament, and of course both owed their status in the Court to him.

The Mikado was a Gilbert and Sullivan skit, of course — their take on the pomposity of court life. There were hidden messages in the operetta, too. Ko-Ko, despite his status, wasn’t much use to anyone unless he could find someone to execute and Pooh-Bah spends most of the play dropping hints about what he would be willing to do in return for, well, a bribe.