Comments on: Daily Telegraph column out today (Euro Parliament)

By: Lori

Lori — Fri, 29 Oct 2004 16:39:30 +0000

Oh, am I the only one who went around singing “heeey mister tangerine man” after reading the article? That paragraph contained more meow than the RSPCA cat wing. Good stuff! I liked the “pukey” acronym as well.

Cheers Fig. Just goes to show the internet is just as small a world as anywhere else…either that or everybody knows Cavalorn (which they should, really).

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By: slef-reflection

slef-reflection — Fri, 29 Oct 2004 15:56:36 +0000

In the news

I remarked earlier in the week about reading John Peel’s death in a blog first. Today, three blogged news items caught my eye:…

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By: Scaryduck

Scaryduck — Fri, 29 Oct 2004 08:15:24 +0000

How sad to see Kilroy reaching the Messiah-like “You’re nothing without me, NOTHING!” phase as he descends into a parody of himself.

By “sad”, I mean “bloody hilarious”, of course.

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By: Simon Holledge

Simon Holledge — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 22:53:48 +0000

I enjoyed Boris’s article – it just shows that we really need to be a lot more involved and a lot more informed about Europe.

Contrary to the dead tree media view, Europe is interesting and colourful (and has real food, but let’s not go into that!). The only way we will progress politically, morally and all the rest is by exchanging ideas with the French, the Germans, the Italians etc.

America is also important but if we are only oriented towards that one relationship, we are not going to have the breadth and perspective to be able to see with any circumspection where we are in the world (proof = Blair and the Iraq war).

Of course the out-of-date British print media don’t go along with this, so the sooner the British wake up the fact that it is dumb to be reading yesterday’s news the better!

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By: Fig

Fig — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 22:03:52 +0000

Lori, I have indeed seen that article before and was horrified. In fact, knowing the way LiveJournal works I may have even seen it from you, somewhat indirectly! (I noticed from an earlier comment that you linked to Cavalorn’s LJ – he’s a friend of a friend and I knew him back in Manchester)

I also agree with JohnJo that the whole thing is riddled with difficulties. All politics will be though, for as long as people disagree (i.e. forever). We just muddle along as best we can, trying to choose the lesser evil in all cases. Not always easy, by any means…

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By: JohnJo

JohnJo — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 18:23:42 +0000

Yes, yes, yes, but the real issue is not what that man chooses to discriminate against. It’s about the fact that the Italian government chose the man as their representative (presumably because they thought he had something to offer) within the European Union and the fact that the Italian choice has been disregarded by a non-Italian political body that does not fancy that choice.

It is so far wide of the normal notion of a nation state and a representative democracy that it is laughable. This is one of the many problems with the European parliament – non-representative of the people of the countries that make it up and not specifically answerable to the electorate for their decisons.

What if they choose next not to allow an avowed atheist to take up a position because he believes that religion is a manifistation of a deluded or weak mind? Where does it end?

Democracy is never neat and tidy and to try and make it so will destroy its meaning.

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By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 18:22:10 +0000

I agree, Fig. It’s much like the religious people who work in chemists and then refuse to give out birth control or morning-after pills because it conflicts with their own religious beliefs (there is a growing trend of this happening, see http://www.stockportexpress.co.uk/news/index/articles/article_id=6456.html for one instance).

If your only choices are to serve the requirements of your job properly and betray your ethics versus follow your ethics and make a hash of your job, surely you need a new job?

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By: Fig

Fig — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 17:35:54 +0000

I think it demeans the issues to refer to them as merely “political correctness”. I personally believe that it’s rather important that a man in charge of discrimination regards homosexuality as a sin. His personal opinions will surely impact upon his abilities to carry out his job to the high level that many of us would want. I’m also less than impressed with his comments on single mothers and women in general.

A person with beliefs has two choices:

1. Carry out his/her work in accordance with those beliefs. In this case I believe this compromises his work.
2. Work against his/her own beliefs. Surely this makes him a hypocrite and also unpopular with anyone who currently supports his stance(s)?

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By: Barry Dorrans

Barry Dorrans — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 15:51:46 +0000

But accepting the reality of MPs being beholden to the party whip requires an informed electorate. The latest shots of Abi Tittmus’s assets appear to have more appeal than politics.

(This is not an attempt to get Boris to pose in such a way)

The Kilroy incident has more to do with him being semi-famous than politics, the commissioner problem is more to do with political correctness than getting commissioners that represent what’s best for the region.

Oh to be a student again and actually believe that the political process actually mattered.

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By: Fig

Fig — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 15:46:38 +0000

“Incidentally, anyone who’s ever watched parliament in action ought to know to vote for the party line they like the most, rather than on whatever their local MP puts on his leaflet.”

Amen. Whether that is the ideal or not is irrelevant. These are the realities of our times.

I’ve found the trick is to find a party you can agree with on around 60% of issues, as it’s highly unlikely the majority of us will ever find a party that 100% matches our ideals. (Of course, a large number of people have no political interests or ideals, but sadly there’s not a great deal we can do about that.)

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