With the happy news that Judas, one of history's most vilified traitors, was just following orders and not such a bad guy after all, it seems as good a time as any to cast a backwards glance over some of the great rehabilitations of our time.
Politics has long been the home of the comeback and Britain's wartime leader, Winston Churchill, is just one of many. After the debacle of the first world war Gallipoli campaign and an inter-war period spent in a political wilderness while Chamberlain practised a policy of appeasement, he was elected prime minister in 1940 and became a national hero. But even after leading Britain to victory he still had another comeback in him. Cast aside and then brought back once more, Churchill was elected prime minister for the second time in 1951 until he resigned in 1955.
In recent years, there have been endless examples of political comeback. Tony Blair's own kingmaker, Peter Mandelson, or the "Prince of Darkness," was implicated in his own secret loan scandal long before the current Labour party loans crisis, costing him his cabinet seat. He was back less than a year later before the sticky issue of passports for the supporters of his failed Dome project finished his government career for good. Oh well, there are no rules saying you can't make a comeback somewhere else - say Brussels.
In fact in Britain there is a long history of fleeing to the continent to plot a triumphant return. It worked for Charles II, who escaped to France during the English civil war, though it took him a couple of attempts too.
Of course rehabilitations aren't purely a British phenomenon. Gerry Adams and Ariel Sharon have both managed remarkable image relaunches. About-turns don't come more dramatic than a man whose words were muted by law on British television being invited to the White House or the former Israel army general withdrawing from Palestinian territories.
Nor are they solely the domain of politicians and leaders. The media is awash with celebrity redemption, none played out more spectacularly than Michael Barrymore's desperate bid for public forgiveness on this year's Celebrity Big Brother. Finding someone to tell your side of the story, as any number of z-list celebrities and their PRs will tell you, is the fast track to redemption. It looks like Judas and his people worked this out a long time ago; they just didn't know it would be 2,000 years before anyone bothered to read it.
