ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ

GOLD AND THE EASILY-LEAD

As fellow bloggers here will know, my chosen 'angle' (apart from digressions into pettiness, to let of steam) is the psychological competence of voters, the 'voted for' (MPs) and the 'elevated' (ministers and PM).
This morning I had the brain-curdling experience of listening to ex PM Sir John Major, in all his, clipped, precious, pedantic glory, explaining the fundamental value of Olympic Gold.
We used to say, of overtly dodgy politicians: 'Would you buy a used car from this man?' Of Major, I am inclined to say: 'In the staff canteen, would you choose to sit next to this man?'
It is part of the devious armour of politicians to whinge when their individual characters are inspected rather than their rosette (manifesto and purported values). But the insufficiently inspected Sir John, at Maastrict, saddled us with the EU Gnomes, Lady Thatcher (forget the Community Charge - Poll Tax) bequeathed us the Community Vacuum, and plain Mr Blair (Brown’s revenge?) granted us his war.
The list does not stop there, but the point is made. The combination of illusory democracy, universal suffrage with cynical voter manipulation, obscene election war-chests filled by quid-pro-quo donors, connivance on all side at disproportionate vote-worth, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL INFANCY OF VOTERS (voters with a ruinous penchant for empty charisma) yields governance of a pathetic aspect.
Olympic gold cannot bring lightness to the leaden tread of wee Gordon Brown. Olympic gold will never assuage the tarnish of Blair's child-need-driven flight from integrity. Olympic Gold can never repay the debt of despair that till-girl Thatcher sowed in the soul of this country.
And it will never occur to bold, triumphant, far-sighted Sir John: saviour of Britain’s self esteem and honour, the number of anguished losers who diverted their spoken-for pounds to a handful of base-cored gold medals. Base cored indeed - almost biblical isn't it.

..some good Olympics...


no no no. there is enough obsessional bbc coverage of this fetish as they try to justify sending over 400 people out there. clearly bbc has too much money that protects a 'delusional tv executive fantasy ' if 400 stafff is some kind of minimum. that is the only olympics story worth doing.

if hard up why not the times story -More Miss Marple than 007: the true face of British espionage.

..... As we talk, surrounded by former ministers and political grandees, Lord Puttnam, the film producer, rushes over and says: β€œIf there's one conversation in this room I'd like to listen to, it's this one.” Later, Lord Alli, the media mogul, strolls over. He is brushed away while Lady Park finishes a story about an African general, a death threat and a brothel.....

It seems to me that the Russians are really trying to be as unsubtle as possible in expressing their view that shelling Russian civilians is going to get a big bad response in future.

As yet I have heard nobody from the US or the UK even mention the fact that there were 2000 or so civilian deaths. No regrets or sympathy expressed.

How to make friends and influence people the George Bush way!

Why this obsession with Russian 'aggression'? It was after all under the cover of the Olympic games that Georgia tried to take over South Ossetia, killing civilians and bombarding buildings.

Is the Western Media really going to play the noecon propaganda game again? Haven't you guys learnt from those famous 'weapons of mass destruction'?

CUE: QUEUE OF IMPOTENCE

As each globular politician mounts Georgia, to tell the Russians to 'cease and desist' like in Ghostbusters, I am reminded of the queue in 'Airplane' waiting their turn to slap the problem passenger. Unreality imitating unreality? Perhaps Branson will lay on 'Georgia Gallantry Flights? We can ALL have a turn at showing our mettle to the Russians as they wave very large lumps of THEIR metal back at us.

β€œDon't tell Dick I told you.”

WORLD NEWS
Musharraf to Resign as President of Pakistan
To spend more time with his army.
Iraq Reportedly Has $79 Billion Oil Surplus
Raises prospect of another invasion.

ALSO IN THE NEWS . . .

Tinkerbell Detained at Disneyland
She's flown to Syria for questioning.

;-)
ed

Nato has been issuing amusing warnings and threats today. It looks as though the US are going to solve their economic problems by instigating an arms race on behalf of Lockhead, Boeing, Northrop, General Dynamics, Honeywell. Its just like the 60s all over again

AND WE'VE GOT GORDON (ref #7)

NOT ARMS; Defence equipment P-LEASE!
If we have to do an emergency beef-up of our army, they will need to give orders in 27 languages (sequence randomised for fairness) and decide who can be sent on what mission according to precise ethno-religious make-up of the 'enemy'. (A word soon to be replaced by 'defensive deployment').

#7 Nortongriffiths, what an awful thought, the 60's repeating but without the benefits of the excellent music, the free sex movement and students with political opinions...

#4. Christian. I completely agree with your view of the situation.

On Gordon's "Autumn Relaunch" Can we hope he will reflect upon this countries billions of debt, costing us billions in interest alone. Can we hope he will stop borrowing. Stop giving billions of tax payers money to foreign countries and start looking after this country.
If he really is 'listening' he will need to make a complete transformation of his previous policy. That will be a miracle, it's only last week he gave the usual gesture, helping families, but as usual forgets the rest of the struggling population, including pensioners, and the low paid. Can we look forward to changes in taxation to boost the housing market or the address fuel tax or perhaps he could look at asylum and immigration as the electrite puts border control, crime and quite a few other issues high upon it's agenda. Will he listen. Can he hear.

Barrie (#1)

Much head nodding and murmuring in agreement on reading your post. I wonder though, is it all not further exacerbated by a touch of the Beeblebrox hypothesis? Is it the government that still governs or has that activity been usurped by the multi-nationals now operating behind the smoke screen of the Brownian/Cameroon antics? If so, does it really matter what the deluded electors and electorate get up to? If this is all so, how on earth do we go about getting control back into the hands of those worthy of it? Are we stuck again by the fact that those wishing to govern are, by definition, unfit to do so? I seem to recall a science fiction tale of the 60s where all governmental decisions were based on the opinions of a single sensible man (a farmer) who had no idea how his notions were being used.

Where is JJ on this one? Are ALL leaders Narcissists?

THEY NEVER SAW IT COMING

NewFazer (#11) Over the last few decades the UK electorate has voted for parties which have promised to govern less and less whilst selling off more and more of the state. If one looks at what happens to statist (aka 'evil Nazi') nations (or ones like Russia desperately trying to claw some of what they allowed to be thrown away in the 1990s) can anyone really envisage effective government being allowed to return here?

The Lisbon Treaty more of less enshrines free-market liberal-democratic anarchism and proscribes all else. The free-market is what EU bureaucracy seems designed to protect. Politicians of whatever colour are now just PR marionettes, and most of the pop audience electorate have been so excitely chanting their politically correct but mantras of 'freedom of choice', 'human rights' (i.e. me first hedonism/consumerism) that they didn't see what was coming until it was too late (and if the truth be known, most still haven't, they just feel something's a bit wrong).

So yes, politicians are narcissistics like pop/movie stars, but dysfunctional family life today ensures a steady supply of these sorts in all areas of employment - they make our glorious free-market hedonism what it is. See popularity of 'The Apprentice' for a sad sign of the times.