Then there are what New York Magazine describes as "grups", those adults who never grew up. Tony Blair qualifies for this barely given his disposition to break open the Stratocaster for a few riffs from The Shadows. As does blogger's choice Ciaran Cuffe who was very much down with the kids until he sold out to the Man, man. As teenagerdom becomes an eternal state of being, our politicians are more likely to reference their cool pasts rather than hide them.

The ultimate political 'grup', is, of course, Barack Obama. Hillary has nothing on him, even if she spent her time at Harvard signing Joni Mitchell in 'the pit' . . . a busking area in Harvard Square . . . and wandering around Salem with a bag of peyote buttons. But Obama is cool, a hard thing to pull off aged 46. When asked if he ever inhaled cannabis, Barack responded dryly, "that was the point."

There's a strange reversal of youth perception in Irish politics. The recent youngsters who entered the Dail dress like our mums and dads, whereas Enda Kenny all but strapped on some elbow guards and made for Lucan Skateboard Park to convince us he was still young at heart. Can we really trust those who attempt to revert to youth? Is it just an indication that they really didn't have it when they were in their teens and 20s? For a real perspective on our politicians, we have to go back to the past.

And it's not necessarily a good thing realising whether the squares were cool then. For Brown looks like a case of innocence lost. There are those who say that conservatism is an inevitable tangent parallel with the aging process, but those who we should really trust should be those who changed for no one. Step for-ward, Obama, and for everybody else, it might be time to go back to the yearbook for some tips on how to regain your essence on where it all came from, preferably while listening to Talking Heads:

"And you may ask your-self, well, how did I get here?"