I attended yesterday's meeting of the Scottish Parliament's Equal Opportunities Committee as it took Cabinet Secretary Nicola Sturgeon for a gentle canter over her 'evidence' for them to agree a new set of specific equality duties for Scotland.
It was May Day 2012. An auspicious date. A grand point from which to launch the work needing done from today which would then leave us with a legacy of a Scotland, 20 years from now, where discrimination was withering on the vine of what once was rampant bigotry and prejudice.
The omens yesterday were not good. I blogged that Nicola sounded and looked as if she wanted to be elsewhere - on the streets of Glasgow campaigning for councillors in the elections tomorrow. There was a marked lack of passion from her for the subject of equalities. A bored reading of her brief. A dismissive fumbling at answers to questions from Committee members and heavy reliance on ministerial wibbling.
The morning after what was a quiet May Day, I was on my way back from the newsagents, reading the reports on the Westminster Culture, Media and Sport Committee which condemned Rupert Murdoch as 'an unfit person' to run a major firm, when I realised that my usual scanning of the newsagent's piles [of newspapers] had revealed that nothing from the fragrant Cabinet Secretary on her big equalities day out yesterday had made the headlines or front pages.
Using Google and bookmarks, I scanned the news media for any sense that the Cabinet Secretary - normally not shy of any photo opportunity in the form of opening of an envelope or switching on a piece of hospital equipment - had done the rounds of the studios extolling the virtues of the new specific equality duties, and which would have the rest of the world beating a path to Scotland to learn how to eliminate discrimination.
The Herald lead story? Fears of a low turnout in the council elections.
The Scotsman led with how young people are [I am not making this up] amongst the happiest in Europe. The BBC Scotland website decided that speeding up the appointment of a Chief Constable to the new single police force was the lead item.
And the Soar-away Sun in Scotland, favoured reading of our First Minister ? Teen Fling Teacher Gets the Boot was their lead story. The Daily Record led with the care worker who fed a resident a dog biscuit.
This was getting to resemble that 'Embarrassing Bodies' programme I sometimes catch trailers for after Channel 4 news bulletins [and rush for the remote to get away from them]. I then tried a search on Google.
Using 'specific equality duties' I found nothing in the first ten hits which suggested Nicola had been media schmoozing on the world-leading specific equality duties Scotland now has. When I made that 'specific equality duties Scotland', this too revealed that Nicola had not been hand-bagging Brian Taylor of the BBC or anyone else of her size on how all is well with equalities in Scotland.
I tried other combinations. Nothing came up which suggested Nicola or her officials were so chuffed with the new specific equality duties that they wanted the world to know about them, and to know that it was all down to her government. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.
Equalities in Scotland is, for our government, on a par with 'embarrassing bodies'. Why not try encouraging Nicola to move over if she is so embarrassed, and let someone else do it.
Tweet to @NicolaSturgeon
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