Tehtud!

The ever-attractive Edgar Savisaar, occasional Mayor of Tallinn and full-time cardboard cutout, has had his licence suspended for three months and fined 3900 EEK (app. 170 GBP) (or 250 EUR) (or 340 USD) (or 400 AUD) for exceeding the speed limit by more than 50 km/h in a 30 km/h zone in July.

The former Minister for Economic Affairs and Communications reacted to the fine and suspension of his licence thusly: "It says in the notice I got that their decision was based on “the principle of equal treatment for all and similar penalties issued to date”. But I suspect that the way I've been penalised has not been seen in any such case to this point. In fact I suspect I am more equal than others, and that's fine by me. People expect more from me than they do from others, and that's as it should be."

What a twat. Personally, I don't think the penalties go far enough, although they're more than I'd hoped for. If he'd done the same in Australia, he could have had his licence taken off him on the side of the road where he was pulled over for a minimum of six months and fined anywhere up to the equivalent of 22,000 EEK. Well, if he'd been speeding through an operating school zone. In New South Wales. And convicted by a court.

Personally (again), I feel the fines should also be in direct proportion to your smug indifference and somehow calculated on the basis of what would actually pinch. I mean, 3900 EEK is peanuts to someone like Hr Savisaar. Why not fine him a year's income from all of the various golden egg-laying battery goose farms he has a stake in? Ratchet up the figures till they induce mild palpitations and voila: you have your magic number.

The sad irony, of course, is that the bill will now be left for the tax payers of Tallinn to foot, as His Jowliness will undoubtedly spend the next three months being driven round everywhere by some City Hall toady. Mind you, does anyone believe he pays any of his car expenses himself in the first place?