Albert Einstein said the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".
We keep trying to exorcise the influence of Thaksin Shinawatra from Thailand by resorting to the same measures but we expect different results. We're insane.
Initially, it was the People's Alliance for Democracy, or yellow-shirt movement, which led efforts to remove Thaksin from office through unconstitutional, if not criminal means by employing terrorist tactics to hijack our international airports, inflicting endless suffering on thousands of tourists who had nothing to do with our conflict.
The result was a series of events designed to rid ourselves of the "Thaksin regime".
First came the military coup, which was followed by a military-backed "impartial" administration, which targeted Thaksin's wealth through the Asset Scrutiny Committee.
Then came the Constitutional Court's disbandment of two Thaksin-backed parties, Thai Rak Thai and the People's Power Party, together with the removal of two elected prime ministers, Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat.
The net result of this judicial purge was the elimination of all significant political parties except for the Democrats, which many observers found to be rather suspect.
Today, we are about to witness another round of judicial inquisitions that push the boundaries of legality and challenge the very concept of justice.
In my view, the charter court's landmark ruling nullifying the Feb 2 polls is a near-death sentence for our fragile democracy. First, it's tantamount to declaring open season on our democracy because a handful of thugs blocking voting booths can derail an election.
Secondly, it rewards a few lawbreakers within the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) and punishes 20 million law-abiding citizens who wanted to express their democratic will through free and fair elections.
Rulings like this will chip away at the credibility of our justice system, because the rights of law-breakers and protesters are consistently being defended, while the constitutional rights of ordinary citizens are constantly being ignored. What a dangerous web we weave.
We have been down this road before. The National Anti-Corruption Commission has thrown down the gauntlet and is counting down towards the apocalypse that will soon see caretaker premier Yingluck Shinawatra removed from office, while the Constitutional Court is poised to expel from parliament all Pheu Thai MPs and senators involved in the passing of the charter amendment bill which would have made the upper house wholly elected.
Even if Ms Yingluck is found guilty and removed, she will be replaced by another Thaksin avatar. If Pheu Thai is disbanded, another Thaksin-funded party will be born. And even when an "impartial" interim prime minister is appointed, we will surely face the prospect of elections sooner or later.
Thaksin has become an unending nightmare that the old elites can't seem to wake up from. But if we, the privileged class, can't come up with a better plan to beat Thaksin, then I'm sorry, we don't deserve to run this country. In my opinion, our leaders must be their own harshest critics. The elites scream and shout about how corrupt Thaksin is, but we ignore it when "one of us" is guilty of it.
We say dereliction of duty when it's Ms Yingluck, but when the Election Commission whose sole purpose is to organise elections, employs every excuse under the sun to avoid holding them, we seem not to worry.
And we bellow out for the political reforms the PDRC has proposed, but when Abhisit Vejjajiva was prime minister for all of two years and seven months and absolutely none of these reforms were even mentioned, we make lofty excuses. What a bunch of hypocrites we have shown ourselves to be.
If the Democrats were competing adequately in elections, we wouldn't be having this conversation about how awful the Thaksin regime is and we certainly wouldn't be clamouring for political reform. Instead of moaning about how stupid the plebs are for supporting Thaksin, the ruling class must accept that if the people are stupid, it is only because we've never bothered to lift a finger to educate them.
Just look at our national embarrassment of an education system, which is a monument to half a century of ruling-class neglect and in my view, the very definition of dereliction of duty.
The Democrats fear Thaksin like a vampire quailing at the sight of a garlic garland necklace. Yet Thaksin is not invincible. I'm certain, with a courageous and inspiring opposition party, he can be beaten. We should brace ourselves for this challenge and rise to the occasion, because everybody knows the only way to truly conquer your fears is to confront them.
And the only way to beat a playground bully like Thaksin, is to stand up to him by fighting for the hearts and minds of the Thai people, through free and fair elections.
Songkran Grachangnetara is an entrepreneur. He graduated from The London School of Economics and Columbia University. He can be reached at Twitter: @SongkranTalk