LOS ANGELES — In a parliamentary system of government, there are no guarantees. You can be in one day and out the next.
So if it's any consolation to crestfallen John Howard, ignominiously defeated for re-election as prime minister of Australia last weekend, it tends to happen this way to the best of them.
Winston Churchill saved England from the Nazis and in the end, got booted out of office. Margaret Thatcher all but saved the British economy and was forced out screaming and kicking.