Category: News and politics

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

 

 

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:

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:

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.

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.

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…

I see that the joker Harry Phibbs is back to lend his support to the disgusting idea that Margaret Thatcher should be given a State Funeral. You can tell that I don’t agree with that.

 

I think I’m more in line with the surreal thoughts of Steve Bell on this one. His current series of If… strips playing upon the idea of Gordon Brown as Heathcliff and Margaret Thatcher as an evil zombie are closer to the mark of the respect that I feel for her.

For the life of me, I can’t understand what is misleading about this description of Berlusconi. Spot on, it seems to me. Even more astounding is that the White House, under this administration, got it right for once and told the truth. No wonder they felt the need to apologise. 

As Johann Hari says, oil-slick politics in the UK are not good. They will poison the body politic.

I think Chris says everything that I feel about Ken Livingstone’s service to London.

Londoners go to the polls today to choose their next mayor. While Ken Livingstone is up for re-election, his main rival for the post is Boris Johnson. Astoundingly, Johnson may well win, according to the polls. This, in my opinion, will be the equivalent of having a lunatic running the asylum. Just how bad it will be can be seen in this hatchet job on Johnson written by Zoe Williams in today’s Guardian. As the title says, be afraid, be very afraid.

I find it strange that a rare honesty from a politician, telling the unvarnished truth, is likely to count against him. But then, this is the US Presidential race. Why should I expect normality?

When I saw and heard President Bush justifying the use of torture and citing the families of the London 7/7 bombings as a rationale, I wondered how long it would be before Rachel responded. As I expected, she is not impressed. Bush is beyond contempt.

I signed a petition today. I find the very idea that Tony Blair might become President of Europe obscene in the extreme. 

I did rather like this, in a bittersweet sort of way. Bowie’s song always takes me back to the hormones and the time that forged me, and this reworking, while at one remove makes me realise the power that everyone has through software editing these days, at another makes me realise that never a truer phrase was spoken than: plus ça change…

 

   

It wouldn’t surprise me if this turns out to be prescient.

 

Update: Back from the grave. Excellent. It’s clearly not over until the fat lady sings.

I think that this cartoon by Martin Rowson sums up my feelings about Blair and his faith pretty well.