“The Never BAT That Got Batified”

— Abioye Tosin Lawrence

I have come to realize that navigating the murky river of politics with beliefs carved in stone and ideologies wrapped in iron often demands a costly toll, a widow’s price paid not in coins, but in relevance. The rigid man stands tall, yet sometimes alone, while the flexible man bends, and somehow finds a seat at the table he once protested outside.

Every system seems to prefer adjustment to overhaul. The corridors of power rarely applaud earthquakes; they favor gentle tremors that rearrange furniture without cracking the walls. Recent political primaries across democracies have shown that standing too long on a widening rift can be expensive, for within the power room, correction is welcomed, but only the kind that massages egos rather than bruises them.

The public, however, watches recalibration with suspicious eyes. A shift in tone becomes betrayal; a change of camp becomes surrender. Yet politics behaves less like poetry and more like algebra, a field where formulas are applied, variables are substituted, and outcomes are expected to balance, even when the workings remain unseen. Thus emerges the paradox: evolution is praised in theory, rigidity is admired in character, but survival often belongs to those who master the delicate art of appearing firm while quietly adjusting their steps. In this theatre, some become symbols of resistance, others ambassadors of alignment, and the audience forever debates which role history will applaud louder.

A Quick Check on Vance and Trump’s Realignment, and the “Never BAT” Baptized into BAT’s Camp

Why then should the majority rush to judge Reno, if Vance could adjust and still advance? Politics, it seems, is a marketplace where yesterday’s slogans are discounted and tomorrow’s alliances are freshly packaged. The crowd remembers the speeches; the system remembers the usefulness.

And what of Omoyele Sowore, the unbent figure at the edge of the square, megaphone in hand, conviction stitched into his voice like a permanent badge? Will a day come when he proclaims, “I conquered,” not as an activist echoing through the streets, but as a victor echoing through the halls of power? Or will history frame him as the man who chose the mountain over the marketplace, admired from afar yet rarely invited inside?

A wandering thought sometimes appears: if years add weight to his calendar and elections repeat like seasons, will persistence be crowned with recognition, or will it remain a distant wave toward the presidential seat, visible, honorable, yet forever across the river?

Such is the theatre of politics: some actors change costumes and join the main cast, others keep the same attire and become enduring symbols. The applause differs, the legacy debates continue, and the audience, the public, decides, again and again, whether evolution is wisdom or rigidity is courage.