It would be a good thing if last Thursday’s debate in Parliament did actually bring the war of words over the Rule of Law to an end.

But I don’t think it will. And I don’t know anyone who thinks it could. Especially now, as we drift into the pre-election period.

So we’re all of us sleepwalking toward a show-down between the “corrupt”, on the one hand, and the “toxic”, on the other. A show-down that clashes horribly with the grim realities of the present moment and is unworthy of our republic.

It gets worse. Because the first victim of this unseemly brawl is the Rule of Law itself.

Which is being tossed like a ragdoll between the Supreme Court (now widely viewed as compromised), the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (hailed as irreproachable), and a Court of First Instance which specializes in espionage cases.

That’s because the debate over the Rule of Law has become a pretext, pure and simple. And a cause to be espoused when and if it’s expedient. So while it’s useful for the wiretapping case, it’s inconvenient when it comes to Tempi.

Of course, no one really believes the Rule of Law is under threat. The issue is simply (as the President of PASOK said in Parliament) whether Mitsotakis will be forced out by the scandals or re-elected Prime Minister.

Forgive me, but compared to the quality of our democracy, this is of minor consequence.

Yet, the pretextual nature of the matter lies precisely there: in a supposedly innocent drift from “unanswered questions” to unspecified questions to “toxic attacks” that are harmful to the health.

The results may please some, but not others. They may be expedient or not.

But no one can honestly describe it as a healthy political debate that honors democracy or the Rule of Law.

Casting doubt on an opponent’s morality is something everyone now does indiscriminately. In volleys of vulgar jibes served up in special publications and on the TV screen.

Turning a blind eye to the danger, for is there any surer route to a squalid society packed with snitches, informers, operatives and mountebanks of every stripe.

Because this is the road we’re sleepwalking down.

And if the grave health ordeal of Deputy Minister Giorgos Mylonakis (to whom To Vima wishes a full and speedy recovery!) teaches us anything, it is the realization of how little we weigh the cost or consequences of a word or slur that goes too far.

Because the elections will come and go. One party will win, another will lose.

But that isn’t the most important issue at stake for Greece’s honorable citizens. Their real imperative is safeguarding the country from the abyss it is being thrust into by frivolous and reckless sleepwalkers—who will remain in our midst long after the polls have closed.