Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

Category: News and politics

  • The Scots Have Long Memories

    It looks as though the UK elections have not produced a decisive win for any party. Although the Conservatives made gains, it doesn’t seem to have been sufficient to give them a decisive majority. Those gains have all been in England. In Scotland, as far as I’m aware, they haven’t made any headway at all. I heard one of the TV pundits say this morning that when he asked Scots why they hadn’t voted Conservative, the majority of them said that they remembered what Margaret Thatcher had done to their country. Ah, the sensible Scots – would that the rest of the UK remembered their history.
     
    Over at Obscene Desserts, John points out a creepy coincidence…

  • A Negative Tribalism

    Gary Younge perfectly sums up my feelings about why I hate Tories:
    I don’t have a phobia about Tories. That would suggest an irrational response. I hate them for a reason. For lots of reasons, actually. For the miners, apartheid, Bobby Sands, Greenham Common, selling council houses, Section 28, lining the pockets of the rich and hammering the poor – to name but a few. I hate them because they hate people I care about. As a young man Cameron looked out on the social carnage of pit closures and mass unemployment, looked at Margaret Thatcher’s government and thought, these are my people. When all the debating is done, that is really all I need to know.
    Unfortunately, the Labour Party of today is not the Labour Party that Gary and I grew up with. Nu Labour is now the Labour pot calling the Tory kettle black. I suppose it’s inevitable that Cameron will be the next Prime Minister come the end of the week, but I could almost pray for a miracle, damn my atheistic soul… Give the Lib Dems a chance. They couldn’t be any worse than Nu Labour or the Tories, could they?
     

  • Picking A Leader

    Charlie Brooker considers the personas of the three party leaders in advance of next week’s UK election. I particularly enjoyed his goring of David Cameron:
    Cameron is 100% something. He isn’t even a man; more a texture-mapped character model. There’s a different kind of software at work here, some advanced alien technology projecting a passable simulation of affability; a straight-to-DVD retread of the Blair ascendancy re-enacted by androids. Like an ostensibly realistic human character in a state-of-the-art CGI cartoon, he’s almost convincing – assuming you can ignore the shrieking, cavernous lack of anything approaching a soul. Which you can’t.
     

  • Nailed

    In today’s Observer, Philip Pullman reflects on Tony Blair, and skewers him precisely:
    Tony Blair has a phosphorescent quality. He is a will-o’-the-wisp, an emanation of rotting marsh gas that flares and glimmers in the dark, leading stray travellers into deeper and deeper mires. His power is almost supernatural. He managed to lead an entire party into supporting policies that were utterly alien to its nature; he took a movement that had once been proud to feel itself socialist, and made it into a fervent supporter of low taxes, private finance initiatives, and people getting filthy rich.
    Read the rest, it’s well worth it.

  • The Wilders Trial

    The trial of Geert Wilders began yesterday. Personally, I can’t stand the man, and loathe his opinions, but I am far from convinced that this trial is necessarily a good idea. Russell Blackford also has his reservations. Wilders is clearly guilty of making inflammatory anti-Muslim statements, but the question before the court is whether they are illegal. The NRC published an overview of the situation just before the trial began. The key point is:

    Wilders is charged with slandering a group and sowing hate, and discrimination on the basis of race or religion. He has targeted Muslims on the basis of their religion, the prosecution will argue, and non-western migrants or Moroccans on the basis of their race.

    I suspect that with courtroom theatrics, such as attempting to call Mohammed  Bouyeri (the murderer of Theo van Gogh) as a witness, Wilders will get the oxygen of publicity that he desires.

  • Schadenfreude Lives!

    The opening days of 2010 have brought an outbreak of schadenfreude, centred around Northern Ireland. Yes, it’s the Iris Robinson affair – quite literally so, as the object of her affections, 19 year-old Kirk McCambley, has attested. My friends from Northern Ireland (both Protestant and Catholic) have been following the unfolding of events breathlessly, and with dangerously high levels of schadenfreude. We all agree that it couldn’t have happened to a nicer couple than Peter and Iris Robinson. After all, it was she who publicly stated that being gay was an abomination, and used Leviticus to justify her stance, whilst conveniently forgetting the equally stern strictures against adultery in the very same chapter. Add to that the shenanigans over money and politicians denying any wrongdoing, and we have a truly heady brew of scandal.

    The only person who seems to be coming out of this with any semblance of dignity is Kirk McCambley himself, whose apparent naivety seems to be protecting him. Inevitably, he now has an Appreciation Society on Facebook with nearly 6,000 members…

  • O Frabjous Day!

  • By George, It Might Just Work!

    I’m feeling very low in spirit at the moment. This is because the media, both in the UK and the Netherlands, are buzzing with the news that Tony Blair may well become the President of the EU. Well, here in the Netherlands, there’s also the fact that some are pushing for Jan Peter Balkenende, but even here, there is strong support for Blair. As I’ve said before, the thought of Blair being President of the EU makes me hang my head in shame. The reasons why are very well summarised in the opening paragraph of an article by George Monbiot in today’s Guardian:

    Tony Blair’s bid to become president of the European Union has united the left in revulsion. His enemies argue that he divided Europe by launching an illegal war; he kept the UK out of the eurozone and the Schengen agreement; he is contemptuous of democracy (surely a qualification?); greases up to wealth and power and lets the poor go to hell; he is ruthless, mendacious, slippery and shameless.

    But then George made me do a double-take; he ends the paragraph with:

    But never mind all that. I’m backing Blair.

    Eh? Monbiot then goes on to explain that with Blair as EU President, it may in fact be our best chance of finally getting him brought to justice. It’s a crazy plan, but if it works, it will be brilliant. If it doesn’t, then we’re stuck with bloody Blair.

  • Who Is Jan Moir?

    I lead a sheltered life. I had not come across this Jan Moir person until today. Apparently, she is what passes for a journalist on the Daily Mail. Here’s what she wrote today about the death of Stephen Gately. Her writing seems rather like the sort of thing one sees when one turns over a stone to expose the insect life scurrying through what was, moments before, fetid darkness. I think Charlie Brooker sums up her piece rather well:
    It’s like gazing through a horrid little window into an awesome universe of pure blockheaded spite. Spiralling galaxies of ignorance roll majestically against a backdrop of what looks like dark prejudice, dotted hither and thither with winking stars of snide innuendo.
    But then again, isn’t that the Daily Mail all over?

  • Bad Science

    I’ve understood this from an early age, but just in case there are some innocents out there, here’s a health warning for you. Never, ever, trust any science reporting from The Sun. It’s not just wrong, it’s likely to cause your brain cells to commit suicide.

  • Noooooooo!

    That’s it, if this comes to pass, we’ve lost all sense of morality and justice. I hang my head in shame.
     
    To be honest, I had expected better of Glenys Kinnock; but apparently she really did say:
    Blair is seen by many as someone who has the strength of character, the stature. People know who he is, and he would be someone who would have this role and step into it with a lot of respect and I think would be generally welcomed.  
    As John Palmer says, almost everything in those two sentences is wrong, even the punctuation. Frankly, the bad punctuation is the least of it. Clearly, Lady Kinnock is completely out of touch with those who once thought that she stood for something.

  • How Are The Mighty Fallen

    I mentioned yesterday how depressing the news was that small-minded xenophobia seems to be on the rise in Dutch Politics, with the success of Geert Wilders and his party in the Dutch election for the European Parliament. Across the channel, things don’t seem to be much better, with the implosion of Gordon Brown’s government.
     
    Mind you, the quality of the politicians, or rather, the lack of it, has a lot to do with it. Marina Hyde in today’s Guardian captures the almost farcial nature of the happenings to a tee. Not so much Brown’s Cabinet as Karno’s Army. I particularly liked Hyde’s withering verdict on the appalling Hazel Blears. I don’t know whether Blears does consider herself the natural heir to Barbara Castle as Hyde suggests. It would not surprise me if Blears did, but in reality the comparison is so outlandish as to cause a sharp intake of breath.

  • The Politics of Torture

    Ophelia highlights a perceptive comment made on her blog, which paints a very persuasive case for the nature of the political game being played out by Obama in relation to the use of torture under the Bush administration. The game is simultaneously saddening – in that it exists as the alternative to actively pursuing war crime prosecutions – and probably the only way in which progress can be made to the point where such prosecutions are demanded by a substantial proportion of US citizens.
     
    Softly, softly, catchee monkey.

  • Nothing Behind The Eyes

    Over in Britain, there’s a spat broken out between a journalist (George Monbiot) and a politician (Hazel Blears). The latter, it seems to me, sums up all that is wrong with Nu-Labour politics. As one commenter wrote: "there’s nothing behind the eyes". I think it’s worse that that – I detect the stirring of pod people.

  • Talking Tosh

    I see Tony Blair’s been talking tosh again. Frankly, I’m amazed that after what we’ve seen from the man that people continue to give him the time of day. As usual, Ophelia sums up my feelings about the wrongness of it all.

  • A Little Levity

    This interview with Sarah Palin, with its background counterpoint of turkeys in their death throes, is like something out of Monty Python. My jaw is still on the desk.
     
     

  • The End of an Error

    As usual, the Guardian’s Steve Bell sums it up pretty well. Trouble is, the toxic after-effects of the Bush administration are likely to have a long half-life. As President-Elect Obama (what a stirring phrase that is – and not just to Americans) said in part:
    The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America – I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you – we as a people will get there.
    It’s that recognition of the collective noun – people – that marks Obama’s key strength for me. The Republicans sought to divide America (and the world) into us and them, the real and the faux/foe. It’s a great relief to me that America has chosen wisely. I’m reminded of the ending of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America:
    The world only spins forward. We will be citizens. The time has come.
    Bye now.
    You are fabulous creatures, each and every one.
    And I bless you: More Life.
    The Great Work Begins. 

  • Wakeup Call

    Today I noticed a number of blogs referring to Wassup 2008. I had no idea what on earth they meant until I watched the original advert followed by the current version here. Simply brilliant. An American version of Grosz.

  • Taking Pride in Ignorance – Part II

    Following hot on the heels of Tracy – here’s Sarah Palin demonstrating once again that she hasn’t a clue, and is proud of it. Scary stuff.

  • A Small Incentive

    Justin, over at Chicken Yoghurt, has come up with a rather whizzo scheme to drive the FTSE share index back up again. It has a rather Ballardian whiff about it…