Is there even a debate about which show is the best on television? Jon Stewart is simply brilliant. Video clip from last night's show here. It's absolutely required that you click the link and watch it. Yes - it's comedy. Yes - it makes a crucial point about politics.
Today is election day in the U.K., and Stewart showed us the differences in the approach to politics they take across the pond.
I'm torn about Tony Blair. I like him as rather liberal, and I like him as a well spoken gentleman and leader. He's just getting ripped for being a Bush stooge, and lying about Iraq. Clearly he deserves that.
Here's what I think happened; Bush co. knew the Iraq WMD's and other war justifications were unmitigated lies. They knew they needed the support of another major world power (remember - UN security counsel members China, Russia, and France were opposed). Bush co. must have done some serious arm twisting on Blair.
The alliance of the US and the UK is critical. If that didn't exist, all else would fall apart. I think Blair was reluctant, but knew that Bush was crazy enough to go it alone, and he couldn't risk that. Therefore, he cast his fate by agreeing to the deception.
Anyway - back to the point. In the U.K., they are allowed to talk to their leaders. They do this whacky thing, like ask their leaders questions. It's even more bizarre if you watch the Brit parliament on CSPAN. The Prime Minister appears and takes direct questions from opposition party members. If you watch, Blair sits there with this big binder on his lap as the opposition yells accusations or asks very difficult questions. Blair then leaps to his feet, and slams his big binder down on the lectern and starts addressing the questions.
Could you imagine George Bush in a room with a bunch of Democratic leaders? Just imagine that the Democrats could ask Bush anything they want. Imagine Bush - on camera, having to answer those questions.
That DOES NOT happen in the United States. That happens as a matter of routine in the United Kingdom.
In the US, Democrats are forced to write letters to the White House - letters which just get thrown away.
Blair also holds "town hall" style discussions. That's what the video clip shows. It's really different then what we have in America. There are people who don't agree with Blair asking him questions! I'm not kidding. In the clip, a young man says to Blair "you lied". I was floored.
Isn't it amazing that they do that over there? Tony Blair actually answers the young man. He explains his point of view, and he does it without sounding like a village idiot. Tony Blair can construct a sentence on the fly, and he can be persuasive in explaining his point of view.
I wonder why we don't have that in the United States? Here - and I'm not joking for those that don't know - if you want to attend a Bush town hall meeting, you have to sign a piece of paper that says you are "loyal". You cannot be in the audience if you do not support Bush. You cannot ask questions such as "you based the war on WMD's that didn't exist, why?". That is strictly not allowed. The only thing you can do is support the President's policies, and say how grateful you are that he is President.
You cannot wear a t-shirt that expresses your displeasure with Bush. You cannot put a sticker on your car that says you're not happy with Bush.
You can not use words like "fascist". You cannot use words like "free speech". You cannot speak your mind, and you cannot get a straight answer to a basic question.
In all seriousness - there are a lot of us, like Jon Stewart, who are completely aghast that this is absolutely true. This is the way our government works now. We like to believe that the United States is the focal point of the world when it comes to individual liberty and free speech. That is not the case - England is.
In England, their Tory party is "conservative". By "conservative" I mean they are about the same as our Democratic party. Their "liberal" party is labour. Then they have a third party that does nothing but suck votes from labour. There is no Christian right wing party in England. There is no equivalent to the American Republican party. They are not that insane.
There is no question where the seat of liberty is in the world today. It's the United Kingdom, which is rather odd considering they've had a monarchy form of government a lot longer than a parliamentary system. America was founded as a "democracy", and we've gone fascist under the Bush administration and the Republican leadership.
And if you don't believe that is true, you're just too stupid. Watch the clip.
When you watch the clip, just imagine that instead of Tony Blair on the hot seat, it's George Bush. Imagine the meltdown that would ensue. Imagine that we lived in a country where you could ask the President direct questions. Imagine that the President of the United States actually answered to the citizens of this country.
I don't know how I can say it any other way. If you support the President, or the Republican party, you support fascism. You do not believe in free speech, liberty, or open government. You believe that the government should control virtually every aspect of your life.
In the clip, Tony Blair says "mistakes were made, and I take responsibility". In the United States, when a reporter asks the President if he made any mistakes, the President looks confused, thinks for a few minutes, and says "I can't think of any".
2 comments:
Just a couple of points.
I like him as rather liberal,
If you look at his track record you will see that his policies actually tend towards the right rather than liberal. Labour abandoned their socialist roots and most claims to liberalism when they became 'New Labour'. Instead they shifted much more to the centre (nothing wrong with that) and then a little more to the right...
On many issues (not all be any means) there is nothing to tell the difference between the Conservative party (proper name for Tories) and the Labour party. But in my opinion there is very little about the New Labour party that is liberal, in the traditional sense of the word. Try living over here under Tony's government and you will see that it ain't a bed of roses.
As for being led along by Bush. Well that is a matter of personal opinion as after numerous inquiries we cannot get at the truth of what happened. History will tell us I hope.
Then they have a third party that does nothing but suck votes from labour.
Not strictly true. Traditionally Labour was socialist and the Liberal Democrats were the 'liberals'. In fact they are pretty popular. A familiar phrase over here is that 'I would have voted for the Lib Dems, if I thought they could have won power'. Which if you stop and think about it is one of the most moronic things that can be said about exercising your democratic right to vote.
tony Blair has been playing a dirty campaign of attacking the Lib Dems, not on policy, because if he did he would lose even more of his traditional support who actually like the Lib Dems manifesto. Rather he has been claiming that by voting for the Lib Dems you will allow the Conservatives in through the back door. Personally, I think this is an underhanded method designed to use fear to control his supporters. Sound familiar?
Just thought i'd pedantically point out that it wasn't a 'town hall' meeting that Blair was attending. It was a special edition of the news debate show 'question time'. Normally the panellists sit together, but here the party leaders faced the audience seperately. The most important difference between this format and the so-called presidential debates is that the participants can only guess at what questions they will be asked, nad must rely on their own wits, rather than an enforced time-limit, to avoid the difficult ones.
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