The Political Thread

[Funt Solo]

I'm super-ignorant of Twitter, so I'm not even sure when someone's responding to someone or just declaring into the void.

I think we're both coming from the same place of not wanting neo-Nazis running anything. I'm sorry that you lost your friend down that path. I suppose we can hope that they'll think better at some point down the line.

[sintec]

I hope so - he's blocked me on social media as I think he got sick of me calling him out on the memes and "news" articles he posted so I've no idea what he's doing these days. It made me realise just how easily people can become radicalised though - very scary.

[shaolin_monkey]

Maybe we should have just talked about football.

[Funt Solo]

Talking of Football, here's Liverpool taking a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement:




Crazy scenes in the US. My wife pointed out that when people protest peacefully (taking a knee at sporting events) they're told they shouldn't do that (by the white president) - that it's unAmerican. When they protest violently they're told they shouldn't do that (by the white president) - that they deserve then to be shot. How should they protest, then?

Of course it's a no-win situation. The white president wants the black people to just be murdered quietly.

[sintec]

Of course it's a no-win situation. The white president wants the black people to just be murdered quietly.

Or to meekly accept their oppression.

[shaolin_monkey]

So Trump announces he's going to bring the US military down on the citizens of the US, then promptly after his declaration has protesters brutally removed from the front of the Whitehouse so he can take a stroll to a church and have a photo op holding a bible.

Why?  Sources say his ego was bruised for us laughing at him hiding in a bunker.

https://twitter.com/existentialfish/status/1267612075536326656?s=21

Presenter: Oh boy, we are in trouble.

Yeah, no shit Sherlock. Your Prez is an out-of-control maniac.

[IndigoPrime]

If nothing else, the past few years have been an excellent showcase that our existing checks and balances were all assumptive on people playing by the rules, even if they'd sometimes stretch them. Trump and Brexit have proved beyond all doubt that if you don't care about the rules, the system cannot stop you doing whatever the hell you like.

[Tiplodocus]

He just wants to be in the history books. Doesn't care what for.

[sheridan]

He just wants to be in the history books. Doesn't care what for.

Trump or Johnson?  Not that it matters - both wanted to be rulers for so long but didn't have a clue what to do once they got there.  Was it on here that I read (of Johnson) "He wanted to become Prime Minister.  He wants to have been Prime Minister.  He doesn't really want to be Prime Minister".

[JayzusB.Christ]

I see some US Evangelicals began talking in tongues and ecstatically throwing out phrases like 'the Armour of God' and 'a Jericho Walk' at the sight of their leader and his Bible.  How fucking gullible can you be?

Similarly, I wonder if there is anyone left still buying the cuddly, scatterbrained jack-the-lad image Johnson crafted for hiself over the years.  I can't see anything these days but a cynical, calculating sociopath.

[Professor Bear]

Thank goodness Kier Starmer is forensically saving the day at PMQs and holding Johnson to account.  I can feel my material conditions improving by the minute, and Johnson can't possibly last against a barrage of such competence.

[IndigoPrime]

He's forced a couple of U-turns, and polling has seen the biggest swing in recent history. Perhaps it'll all go horribly wrong, but given that we now have a Prime Minister properly losing his shit to basic questions in the Commons, and Labour's managed to get the govt into change tack on some things despite it having a massive majority, he seems to be doing all right.

I know he's not your cup of tea, Professor Bear, and that Corbyn was treated badly by a lot of people. But we have what we have now. Perhaps polling won't budge again, and Labour will have mostly eaten half of the Lib Dem share and only a couple of points of Con. But if the swing continues even just two more points and sticks at a general, we're into Tory minority territory. Even a slight Lib Dem resurgence, and we'd be looking at some kind of Lab/Lib deal.

It's all a long way off. Loads of shit can happen before then. But I've liked a reasonable amount of what I've seen so far, despite having some misgivings regarding Starmer on a couple of key points.

[Professor Bear]

You give the glorious leader nothing but praise and the Starmtroopers still come for you.  The more things change etc

[IndigoPrime]

Labour really needs to break in two. That both sides of the party don't support the PR that would enable it to baffles me. (I guess both think — like Labour does as a whole — they have a god-given right to rule alone. It's one of the few things they are in complete alignment on — albeit to their mutual detriment.)

[Professor Bear]

Labour did break in two already - it got us the LibDems, which has been a fantastic success all round, and also it got us Change TIG Tinge UK, which was also a great success in that it ended the careers of some of the absolute worst MPs in Parliament.

Democratic reform in the UK is pointless as long as the House of Lords exists.  Leaving aside all the basic issues with unqualified lifetime appointees, as a concept alone it normalises dynastic entitlement.  The best we could ever hope for is that one day - maybe, possibly - the House might discuss limiting the number of peers to a mere hundred or so by clearing out all the New Money riffraff cluttering the place up since the mid-80s, or possibly adopting a version of the US Supreme Court model, which, of course, has no problems whatsoever.

I guess both think — like Labour does as a whole — they have a god-given right to rule alone. It's one of the few things they are in complete alignment on — albeit to their mutual detriment.

I was under the impression that most MPs - left and right - don't support PR because it would make fringe parties mainstream overnight.  I guess I can understand that reasoning, but if you think 13 UKIP MPs is a price worth paying to get 7 Green MPs and to make the LibDems kingmakers again, then fair play.