Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Why does Newsnight and its guests from within the Beltway focus on the petty intrigues within the Labour regime,as if the most important aspect of our economic situation is the effect on Gordon Brown's job prospects?Nothing has happened.This is just speculation.The real story is the horrific economic news that appers daily.

PETTY INTRIGUES ADD UP TO PARTY GOVERNANCE

(This is a partial re-post ref. #1) Our pathetic leaders cry: "ad hominem" to show high scholarship and fend off inspection of THE PERSON. But, in truth, it was PERSON THATCHER, PERSON MAJOR, PERSON BLAIR, and now PERSON BROWN who led us to this Wonderland.
DON'T PLAY THE GAME - PLAY THE MAN!!!

The media are so predictable. When the lady who became the Repubican V.President I turned to my wife and said it won't take them long to find some dirt on her. so they have found her daughter pregnant. What's new? Join the thousands of other teenage girls in that position, hardly newsworthy.

Then there is Russia and Putin. What a surprise that the EU had no shots in its locker, apart from some more huffing and puffing. The West ought to live in the real world. States that border on Russia are of interest to them and I will predict that before long Russia will engineer some Russian discontent in say the Ukraine and move in "to protect its people". As I have blogged before Putin is a very dangerous individual and is more than equal to any western leader.
Then finally Mr. Brown and his troubles. I am sure his plan is to go for the sympathy vote as people will be feeling sorry for him. What he will propose this week and over the conference will not alter the fact that Labour will lose the next election with or without Brown.
My money is on Milliband being given the Chancellor's job. That will scuttle any "popularity" he may have if he ever did decide to stand against Brown.
I was with your panel. Brown will hang on as long as he can, and if he is to go then next year may be too late.

The electorate may think the Tories will do better but will find that "New Tory" is just New Labour, with a change of personel. (Surely by now we should be calling it Old Labour-hardly "New" any more?)

But it all keeps the media pundits in a job.

The news that Sarah Palin's daughter is pregnant, though surprising, still reeks of political calculation. In the same way that Geirge W Bush's unworldliness and obvious difficulties in articulating positions were turned around and used in his favour : he reminded many voters of themselves. The fact that he is a cossetted product of the east coast elite, the Dauphin of DC, was successfully deflected. Palin's sudden announcement she's to become a grandmother took nobody in the GOP leadership by surprise - it was probably one of the reasons she got picked as running mate. It means the Republicans can present her as just another regular mom dealing with the regular problems that regular families have to face on a regular basis. Of course she was vetted to within an inch of her life before her announcement as a Veep candidate. There is subtle, highly calibrated political calculus at work here. Nothing is left to chance.

I LIKE YOUR THESIS OOHME

Just as our law courts trumpet: "no emotional considerations - just facts" and then, away go the barristers playing the emotion game, so the politicians demand that we: "leave personal matters out of politics" but they pick a 'person' (as Oohme outlines above) when it counts.

Please stop comparing today's economic situation with the early 80s. The huge difference between then and now is that house prices were RISING then, not falling as they are now. It was the period when jokes were made about the number of dinner party conversations revolving round house prices. No-one who owned a house/mortgage could believe how rich they were all of a sudden.

i can't believe people keep using that russia needs us baloney.

who will crumble first? A uk govt with no gas in the winter or a russia with a few billion for three months?

the uk has 13 days gas supply and the people building new uk gas storage are....Gazprom.
Gazprom have set a strategic objective of owning the uk gas supply.

No other country allows foreign states to own its strategic infrastructure. Is HMG super smart or super dumb?

SUPERDUMB (bhd #7)

We have superdumb governance because of the self-protecting, self-perpetuating Westminster charade.

So often we are told: "There are many good MPs" I say: "LET THEM STAND UP AND DENOUNCE THE CURRENT SYSTEM". Are they good fools or good knaves?

SPOIL PARTY GAMES

bookhimdano (#7) Maybe HMG aren't national socialists?

NUTS (IN THE EU SENSE)

HMG appears to be continuing the anarchistic Thatcherite programme of de-nationalisation in furtherance of grass-roots worker's democratic councils (aka soviets, which is more Trotskyite than Stalinist).

HMG appears to be anti-elitist and anti-Civil Service, which to me is a sure fire way of breaking up what WAS put in place as our national (socialist) welfare state infrastructure, and this is done so 'interested others' (domestic and foreign) can pick at its carcass/bones.

I don't see any nation building here at all, and haven't for years. Those who do well these days tend to be ruthless people who don't care about anything but their own short-term self-interests, which makes them ideal hatchet-persons/anarchists if the above is indeed the agenda.

DEAR NEWSNIGHT

It seems to me there are some clear challenges to government on this blog. Frequently they take only a short time to read so could be put to the usual suspects without taking valuable time from 'man bites dog', 'Elvis on moon' or Cecil B DeMille weather reporting.
In the absence of reply, I assume my recent assertions that Newsnight is in no position to step outside the lie (as it will kill the game) is correct. I do not expect you to address this 'personally'.
However - do you 'know a man who can?'

For the avoidance of doubt, the issues to be addressed sum to: 'just what is going on in political minds and, in consequence, the governing of this country'. e.g.

EU and Irish referendum impingement.
Flogging off everything to anyone.
Westminster fortress function - against us!
Money in all its manifestations.
Feel free to add in the same vein.

'PM' now has 'iPM' driven by listener input. So there's even a precedent!