Gosh. Now there’s a shock. Boris may not be able to keep one of his unrealistic manifesto pledges… I don’t believe it…
You’ll be telling me that they run some sort of long race with people dressed up like cartoon characters every year next…
They already do that? Really?
Well, well.
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Friday, May 02, 2008
The Day of Truth... Have Londoners just "done a Bush"?
"Boris as mayor? Lovely to see other comedians getting work, but four years is a bit long for a comedy routine."
- David Mitchell
This is from a very good Guardian [here] which puts the case against BoJo as he has annoyingly become known. I voted for someone else, with good conscience, and to be honest, out of the people who stand a chance, I hope to all is holy that Ken wins again. If the quotes below don't make you think otherwise, there's something wrong. What scares me most is that someone who is a hypocritical, lying, bumbling, racist, homophobic, ignorant, elitist wally might actually have managed to dislodge someone who - while not universally popular - has done a lot to further the multi-cultural and accepting society of London, as well as try some Green policies (which I admit, he hasn't done enough). I do find him funny. But in the same way I find George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. And what fine, upstanding, well-informed, in touch and completely unevil gentlemen they are.
I cannot believe that we sat here laughing at the US for "electing" such a man for so long and now we have come so close to following their footsteps almost exactly over here in London. If you hadn't bothered to find out exactly what BoJo is like past the jokes and the "policies", here are some quotes from the Guardian article that sum him up.
Oh, and as much as I respect everyone's right to vote for whoever the hell they like... shame on you if you voted for Boris.
Boris Johnson in his own words
The wannabe mayor on race, sex and politics
On homosexuality
"Gay marriage can only ever be a ludicrous parody of the real thing." · Daily Telegraph, 2005
"If gay marriage was OK - and I was uncertain on the issue - then I saw no reason in principle why a union should not be consecrated between three men, as well as two men; or indeed three men and a dog."· From his book, Friends, Voters, Countrymen, 2001
"We don't want our children being taught some rubbish about homosexual marriage being the same as normal marriage, and that is why I am more than happy to support Section 28." · Daily Telegraph, 2000
"The clerics gave us [journalists] a wigging for being so mean to the Church of England ... Why did we draw attention to tricky subjects like homosexuality, aka the Pulpit Poofs issue?"· The Spectator, 2000
"I'm not bisexual so far ... not that I would condemn myself if I later discovered I were."· Daily Telegraph, 2008
On Africa
"No doubt the AK47s will fall silent, the pangas will stop their hacking of human flesh, and the tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles to see the big white chief touch down in his big white British taxpayer-funded bird."· In 2002, on Tony Blair's visit to the Democratic of Republic of Congo, Daily Telegraph
"Right, let's go and look at some more piccaninnies."· Reported remark, while visiting Uganda, to Swedish Unicef workers and their black driver, the Observer, 2003
On the Commonwealth
"It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies."· Daily Telegraph, 2002
On failing to recognise his Filipina housekeeper
"When our housekeeper appeared on stage in her hot pink strapless number [as a finalist of the Mrs Philippines 2005 contest in London], I failed at first to recognise her, surrounded as she was by 10 other Filipina mums, each shimmering in every shade from fuchsia to Germolene ... Was that Luz, the No 6, the one with the cleavage? Or was she No 5, with the smile? Surely she wasn't No 11, the one with the legs. No: wait - that was her, with her hair up. No 8! 'We want eight,' we screamed, and waved at good old Luz, a woman who has been exposed to the full horror of the Johnson family washing and yet contrived to look little short of $1m. · The Spectator, 2005
On his prospects
"My chances of being PM are about as good as the chances of finding Elvis on Mars, or my being reincarnated as an olive."· The Independent, 2004
George Bush and Iraq
"He liberated Iraq. It is good enough for me."· Daily Telegraph, 2004
"The Americans were perfectly happy to go ahead and whack Saddam merely on the grounds that he was a bad guy, and that Iraq and the world would be better off without him; and so indeed was I." · Daily Telegraph, 2003
On Islam
"The most viciously sectarian of all religions in its heartlessness towards unbelievers."· The Spectator, 2005
On race
"I'm down with the ethnics. You can't out-ethnic me, Nihal ... My children are a quarter Indian, so put that in your pipe and smoke it."· To Nihal Arthanayake, BBC Asian Network, 2008
On cannabis
"It was jolly nice. But apparently it is very different these days. Much stronger. I've become very illiberal about it. I don't want my kids to take drugs." · GQ, 2007
On sex
"I've slept with far fewer than 1,000."· On whether he has slept with fewer than 30 women, like Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, Daily Telegraph, 2008
"An inverted pyramid of piffle."· The Mail on Sunday, 2004, on allegations that he had an affair with Petronella Wyatt, later confirmed.
On obesity
"Nothing but their own fat fault."
On transport
"I don't believe [using a mobile phone at the wheel] is necessarily any more dangerous than the many other risky things that people do with their free hands while driving - nose-picking, reading the paper, studying the A-Z, beating the children, and so on."· Daily Telegraph, 2002
"The whole county of Hampshire was lying back and opening her well-bred legs to be ravished by the Italian stallion."· GQ, while in a Ferrari
On Liverpool
"A society that has become hooked on grief and likes to wallow in a sense of vicarious victimhood."· A Spectator editorial, 2004 (Johnson didn't write the editorial, but he approved it)
On his arts role
"Look, the point is ... er, what is the point? It is a tough job but somebody has got to do it."· On being appointed Tory Arts spokesman, 2004
On stag hunting
"I remember the guts streaming, and the stag turds spilling out on to the grass from within the ventral cavity ... This hunting is best for the deer." · From his book Lend Me Your Ears
- David Mitchell
This is from a very good Guardian [here] which puts the case against BoJo as he has annoyingly become known. I voted for someone else, with good conscience, and to be honest, out of the people who stand a chance, I hope to all is holy that Ken wins again. If the quotes below don't make you think otherwise, there's something wrong. What scares me most is that someone who is a hypocritical, lying, bumbling, racist, homophobic, ignorant, elitist wally might actually have managed to dislodge someone who - while not universally popular - has done a lot to further the multi-cultural and accepting society of London, as well as try some Green policies (which I admit, he hasn't done enough). I do find him funny. But in the same way I find George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. And what fine, upstanding, well-informed, in touch and completely unevil gentlemen they are.
I cannot believe that we sat here laughing at the US for "electing" such a man for so long and now we have come so close to following their footsteps almost exactly over here in London. If you hadn't bothered to find out exactly what BoJo is like past the jokes and the "policies", here are some quotes from the Guardian article that sum him up.
Oh, and as much as I respect everyone's right to vote for whoever the hell they like... shame on you if you voted for Boris.
Boris Johnson in his own words
The wannabe mayor on race, sex and politics
On homosexuality
"Gay marriage can only ever be a ludicrous parody of the real thing." · Daily Telegraph, 2005
"If gay marriage was OK - and I was uncertain on the issue - then I saw no reason in principle why a union should not be consecrated between three men, as well as two men; or indeed three men and a dog."· From his book, Friends, Voters, Countrymen, 2001
"We don't want our children being taught some rubbish about homosexual marriage being the same as normal marriage, and that is why I am more than happy to support Section 28." · Daily Telegraph, 2000
"The clerics gave us [journalists] a wigging for being so mean to the Church of England ... Why did we draw attention to tricky subjects like homosexuality, aka the Pulpit Poofs issue?"· The Spectator, 2000
"I'm not bisexual so far ... not that I would condemn myself if I later discovered I were."· Daily Telegraph, 2008
On Africa
"No doubt the AK47s will fall silent, the pangas will stop their hacking of human flesh, and the tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles to see the big white chief touch down in his big white British taxpayer-funded bird."· In 2002, on Tony Blair's visit to the Democratic of Republic of Congo, Daily Telegraph
"Right, let's go and look at some more piccaninnies."· Reported remark, while visiting Uganda, to Swedish Unicef workers and their black driver, the Observer, 2003
On the Commonwealth
"It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies."· Daily Telegraph, 2002
On failing to recognise his Filipina housekeeper
"When our housekeeper appeared on stage in her hot pink strapless number [as a finalist of the Mrs Philippines 2005 contest in London], I failed at first to recognise her, surrounded as she was by 10 other Filipina mums, each shimmering in every shade from fuchsia to Germolene ... Was that Luz, the No 6, the one with the cleavage? Or was she No 5, with the smile? Surely she wasn't No 11, the one with the legs. No: wait - that was her, with her hair up. No 8! 'We want eight,' we screamed, and waved at good old Luz, a woman who has been exposed to the full horror of the Johnson family washing and yet contrived to look little short of $1m. · The Spectator, 2005
On his prospects
"My chances of being PM are about as good as the chances of finding Elvis on Mars, or my being reincarnated as an olive."· The Independent, 2004
George Bush and Iraq
"He liberated Iraq. It is good enough for me."· Daily Telegraph, 2004
"The Americans were perfectly happy to go ahead and whack Saddam merely on the grounds that he was a bad guy, and that Iraq and the world would be better off without him; and so indeed was I." · Daily Telegraph, 2003
On Islam
"The most viciously sectarian of all religions in its heartlessness towards unbelievers."· The Spectator, 2005
On race
"I'm down with the ethnics. You can't out-ethnic me, Nihal ... My children are a quarter Indian, so put that in your pipe and smoke it."· To Nihal Arthanayake, BBC Asian Network, 2008
On cannabis
"It was jolly nice. But apparently it is very different these days. Much stronger. I've become very illiberal about it. I don't want my kids to take drugs." · GQ, 2007
On sex
"I've slept with far fewer than 1,000."· On whether he has slept with fewer than 30 women, like Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, Daily Telegraph, 2008
"An inverted pyramid of piffle."· The Mail on Sunday, 2004, on allegations that he had an affair with Petronella Wyatt, later confirmed.
On obesity
"Nothing but their own fat fault."
On transport
"I don't believe [using a mobile phone at the wheel] is necessarily any more dangerous than the many other risky things that people do with their free hands while driving - nose-picking, reading the paper, studying the A-Z, beating the children, and so on."· Daily Telegraph, 2002
"The whole county of Hampshire was lying back and opening her well-bred legs to be ravished by the Italian stallion."· GQ, while in a Ferrari
On Liverpool
"A society that has become hooked on grief and likes to wallow in a sense of vicarious victimhood."· A Spectator editorial, 2004 (Johnson didn't write the editorial, but he approved it)
On his arts role
"Look, the point is ... er, what is the point? It is a tough job but somebody has got to do it."· On being appointed Tory Arts spokesman, 2004
On stag hunting
"I remember the guts streaming, and the stag turds spilling out on to the grass from within the ventral cavity ... This hunting is best for the deer." · From his book Lend Me Your Ears
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Voting for ANYONE but Boris...
I am now able to vote on 1st May, so I am going to set out my stall now, in the hope that someone, anyone, will listen...
Just please, listen to reason. As whimsical and comic on Have I Got News For You as he may have been... and despite of as good an impression of a scarecrow as I've ever seen... Is he really the kind of person you want in charge? Even if you don't want Ken again, Boris is NOT the only alternative!
I would normally look to vote for the Lib Dems, if I'm honest. But this time, their candidate is awful. Essentially, they're fielding a single-issue candidate in Brian Paddick. All he knows is crime, being an ex-Met Police Commissioner. All I've heard him talk about is crime. Y-A-W-N.
But I'd rather he got in than Boris Johnson without question...
But please, don't vote for Boris... you won't be able to get rid of him after half an hour...
PLEASE DON'T VOTE FOR BORIS JOHNSON!
He is only popular because of novelty value, and is simply "doing a Cameron" and announcing populist ideas that either wouldn't work or would make things worse in London. As well as opposing environment-improving measures already in place and sharing George W. Bush's view on the Kyoto Protocol (which is selfish, ignorant and criminal, in my opinion - that's Boris, not the Kyoto Protocol...).
Just please, listen to reason. As whimsical and comic on Have I Got News For You as he may have been... and despite of as good an impression of a scarecrow as I've ever seen... Is he really the kind of person you want in charge? Even if you don't want Ken again, Boris is NOT the only alternative!
I would normally look to vote for the Lib Dems, if I'm honest. But this time, their candidate is awful. Essentially, they're fielding a single-issue candidate in Brian Paddick. All he knows is crime, being an ex-Met Police Commissioner. All I've heard him talk about is crime. Y-A-W-N.
But I'd rather he got in than Boris Johnson without question...
For me, the choice is between the Green Party and Left List (formerly part of the Respect Coalition)... and right now, the Greens have the best manifesto of the lot. Cuts to bus and tube fares, free insulation for every home that needs it, affordable housing and a higher minimum wage in the public sector.
All that's left after that is the pointless UKIP, the unspeakable BNP, the English Democrats (who?), and the groan-causing Christian Choice party.
The most bizarre statement I've heard so far is from Richard Barnbrook, the BNP candidate. He opposes the London 2012 Olympic Games, and says he would "offer them to Athens" should he win. Well, he won't. And what's more, he clearly doesn't understand how these things all work if he thinks he'd have that choice...
But please, don't vote for Boris... you won't be able to get rid of him after half an hour...
Friday, February 29, 2008
Obama/Cameron, Cameron/Obama?
This is an interesting view of the debates in the US:
http://blogs.ft.com/rachmanblog/
And in particular, this paragraph catches me - and says what has been troubling me about what I've seen and heard - of both Barak Obama and David Cameron...:
I'm afraid that its the same with both of them for me - I just am not moved by anything they do. Cameron in particular makes a grand entrance look like sneaking in via the back door under cover of darkness, and last week's Northern Rock debates simply seem to have proved that the Tories are just as adept as ever at rescuing defeat from the jaws of victory. George Osborn, the great Tory hope, seemed to think he was on to a dead cert, and then watched all the criticisms they threw at Darling and Brown just fade away making them look foolish. Don't get me wrong, Labour certainly didn't come out smelling of roses, and didn’t deserve to either - only the Lib Dems managed that - thanks to Vince Cable showing the bigger boys how they should have dealt with the situation.
But Obama seems to be the living embodiment of the phrase "all mouth, no trouser" - spouting meaningless phrases that somehow catch the imagination and mood of the baying fans that have fallen under his spell. If anyone doubts this, please explain to me what the phrases "the audacity of hope" and "we are the change we've been waiting for" actually either mean or do for the mood of the US... As Mr Rachman points out in the article linked above, it would only genuinely be audacious to run for president for reasons of despair... And the second one, urgh, I don't know.
As for David Cameron, I appreciate that making fun of the government at every step, and shoving fingers into every hole in policy at the first opportunity seems to be working at the moment. But you may have many, many more months to wait for an election, and we've seen before that this behaviour wears thin very easily with the public - and support follows rapidly.
I don't actually want Mr Cameron to win an election - I'd far rather see Titus Bramble in the next England football squad - but if he's serious about being a challenge to Labour, he needs to realise pretty quickly that being able to walk and talk without notes, and being able to come up with a few priceless playground insults will not be the deciding factor in an election.
And if last week was anything to go by, maybe they ought to check that the gift horse standing in front of them doesn't have a "Made In Troy" stamp somewhere on it…
http://blogs.ft.com/rachmanblog/
And in particular, this paragraph catches me - and says what has been troubling me about what I've seen and heard - of both Barak Obama and David Cameron...:
"All this leaves me baffled. I have watched Mr Obama speak live; I have watched him speak on television; I have even watched his speeches set to music on a video made by celebrity supporters… But I find myself strangely unmoved – and this is disconcerting. It feels like admitting to falling asleep during Winston Churchill’s “fight them on the beaches” speech."
I'm afraid that its the same with both of them for me - I just am not moved by anything they do. Cameron in particular makes a grand entrance look like sneaking in via the back door under cover of darkness, and last week's Northern Rock debates simply seem to have proved that the Tories are just as adept as ever at rescuing defeat from the jaws of victory. George Osborn, the great Tory hope, seemed to think he was on to a dead cert, and then watched all the criticisms they threw at Darling and Brown just fade away making them look foolish. Don't get me wrong, Labour certainly didn't come out smelling of roses, and didn’t deserve to either - only the Lib Dems managed that - thanks to Vince Cable showing the bigger boys how they should have dealt with the situation.
But Obama seems to be the living embodiment of the phrase "all mouth, no trouser" - spouting meaningless phrases that somehow catch the imagination and mood of the baying fans that have fallen under his spell. If anyone doubts this, please explain to me what the phrases "the audacity of hope" and "we are the change we've been waiting for" actually either mean or do for the mood of the US... As Mr Rachman points out in the article linked above, it would only genuinely be audacious to run for president for reasons of despair... And the second one, urgh, I don't know.
As for David Cameron, I appreciate that making fun of the government at every step, and shoving fingers into every hole in policy at the first opportunity seems to be working at the moment. But you may have many, many more months to wait for an election, and we've seen before that this behaviour wears thin very easily with the public - and support follows rapidly.
I don't actually want Mr Cameron to win an election - I'd far rather see Titus Bramble in the next England football squad - but if he's serious about being a challenge to Labour, he needs to realise pretty quickly that being able to walk and talk without notes, and being able to come up with a few priceless playground insults will not be the deciding factor in an election.
And if last week was anything to go by, maybe they ought to check that the gift horse standing in front of them doesn't have a "Made In Troy" stamp somewhere on it…
Monday, October 08, 2007
Will the real David Cameron please shut up, please shut up, please shut up...
I've always been suspicious of David Cameron. I am now officially sick of him.
One gimmicky, vomit-inducing speech and everyone thinks the sun shines from an impossible place.
And then there’s the incessant whingeing about Gordon Brown's non-election... So he didn't call an election. Oh dear - I didn't get the boat I wanted for Christmas when I was ten, and I didn't score a hundred last time I played cricket. I didn't go crying to a conveniently placed TV camera and make myself look like a whiny idiot in the best traditions of the Conservative playground ("It's not fair, mummy - the big boy took my policy on inheritance tax!")
It's up to the PM (right or wrong) to choose the date of the election. Personally, I support the Lib Dems in their bid to get the parliamentary term fixed (and therefore the date of every election fixed) so PMs can't call elections to suit their party's own interests, but as it stands, it is Gordon Brown's right to choose when to hold the election. He never said he was going to - everyone else interpreted it the way they wanted to and (in the case of some newspapers - as well as Mr Cameron) practically wet themselves with anticipation.
Never has the chance to lose something been so exciting to so many people. Well, not since the 80s, when Neil Kinnock was supposedly the nation's great hope...
And the speech...
"Two years ago I stood on this stage and I gave a speech, a short speech, about why I wanted to lead our Party. Today I want to make a speech about why I want to lead our Country.
I am afraid it is going to be a bit longer and I haven't got an autocue and I haven't got a script, I've just got a few notes so it might be a bit messy; but it will be me."
As Francis Wheen said on last Friday's news quiz, "Go to any school play and you see people speaking without an autocue. It's not that difficult, you just learn your lines..."
Fill an hour with electorate-pleasing promises that they'd no more fulfill than the Labour government would, some self-deprecating charm and the "viruoso" ability to walk AND talk at the same time (bravo) and you're no more impressive than Jim Davidson...
And I can't stand Jim Davidson.
Just because you can remember your lines, it doesn't mean you're fit to run a country. And its certainly not enough to win my vote.
One gimmicky, vomit-inducing speech and everyone thinks the sun shines from an impossible place.
And then there’s the incessant whingeing about Gordon Brown's non-election... So he didn't call an election. Oh dear - I didn't get the boat I wanted for Christmas when I was ten, and I didn't score a hundred last time I played cricket. I didn't go crying to a conveniently placed TV camera and make myself look like a whiny idiot in the best traditions of the Conservative playground ("It's not fair, mummy - the big boy took my policy on inheritance tax!")
It's up to the PM (right or wrong) to choose the date of the election. Personally, I support the Lib Dems in their bid to get the parliamentary term fixed (and therefore the date of every election fixed) so PMs can't call elections to suit their party's own interests, but as it stands, it is Gordon Brown's right to choose when to hold the election. He never said he was going to - everyone else interpreted it the way they wanted to and (in the case of some newspapers - as well as Mr Cameron) practically wet themselves with anticipation.
Never has the chance to lose something been so exciting to so many people. Well, not since the 80s, when Neil Kinnock was supposedly the nation's great hope...
And the speech...
"Two years ago I stood on this stage and I gave a speech, a short speech, about why I wanted to lead our Party. Today I want to make a speech about why I want to lead our Country.
I am afraid it is going to be a bit longer and I haven't got an autocue and I haven't got a script, I've just got a few notes so it might be a bit messy; but it will be me."
As Francis Wheen said on last Friday's news quiz, "Go to any school play and you see people speaking without an autocue. It's not that difficult, you just learn your lines..."
Fill an hour with electorate-pleasing promises that they'd no more fulfill than the Labour government would, some self-deprecating charm and the "viruoso" ability to walk AND talk at the same time (bravo) and you're no more impressive than Jim Davidson...
And I can't stand Jim Davidson.
Just because you can remember your lines, it doesn't mean you're fit to run a country. And its certainly not enough to win my vote.
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