Monday Moan 21

Time to choose

In a few days from now the American people will get the chance to vote for their next President.  Barack Obama or Mitt Romney – from here it doesn’t seem like a difficult decision, does it?  But that’s not the way it is over the other side of the Atlantic.

How could it be that this is such a close election?  Well, let’s not forget that Barack Obama only just managed to squeeze past the aged John McCain last time round, despite his opponent’s complete lack of personality or charisma, despite the economic crisis and despite the anger created by years of apparently pointless and unsuccessful war in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Getting the American public to vote for its first black president was a big deal and it was achieved only by a relatively narrow margin.

Obama was then hailed as the man to change everything. Of course he promised a lot, but much of the euphoria surrounding his election was generated by unrealistic expectations on the part of others.  I confess to being swept up in this myself, so much so that I sat glued to the television to watch the inauguration ceremony, because I was convinced it was a historic turning point.  That euphoria and those expectations have weighed like an increasingly heavy millstone around Obama’s neck as the realities of government have exerted their force.  Nobody, not even the President of what many consider to be the most powerful nation on Earth, can change things overnight. 

Obama has, of course, faced some pretty tricky obstacles as he has tried to govern. It seems that a significant proportion of Americans believe he is a marxist, socialist, communist, muslim (delete as you wish) intent on destroying the American way of life. He has faced opposition from the Republicans to almost everything he has tried to do, including a campaign against his introduction of what to most of the rest of the developed world seemed to be pretty obvious proposals for healthcare reform, to extend access to healthcare provisions to the poorer members of society – including the almost 17% of Americans who have no health insurance.  Apparently, this was just an example of his communist beliefs.

He now faces a man who , according to many observers, is not just gaffe-prone, but a serial distorter of the truth (or liar, if you prefer).  Of course, there are those on the other side of the debate who claim that Obama is the liar.  And in the country of free-speech, both sides are able to make their vitriolic and partisan allegations almost unchecked.  Romney a liar?  or Obama a communist? 

 

Oh well, the election will be over soon and then, apart from the arguments, name-calling and righteous opposition to whatever is proposed by the new President, we can take a rest from campaigning - for at least a year to eighteen months.  Then it all kicks off again. 

 

A multimedia icon speaks

Dr. Michael Savage is not Tom Jones in a poor disguise, but a multimedia icon in the conservative movement, heard by 10 million listeners a week on “The Michael Savage Show” and syndicated across the U.S. in more than 300 markets.  At least, that is how he bills himself on his own website (obviously, not the Tom Jones denial bit).

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He is also one of only a handful of people banned from entering the UK.  Banned for his extremist views.  But free to peddle them elsewhere, of course.  He is one of President Obama’s fiercest (or at least one of his loudest) critics.  I am not going to put a link to his website in the Moan – you can look him up if you want to do so.  But I will highlight the following comment attached to one of his many video postings:-

 

“Independents and Republicans are shown to have higher IQs then [sic] democrats and liberals. Just science fact now. That’s why none will vote for Obama. We still have to worry about the other 50% of the country though, you know the ones that aren’t that smart.”

 

Heaven help us all.

 

  

Independence Day

Scotland is to get its vote on independence.  That is, the people living in Scotland will get to vote – which includes the almost 370,000 English people resident there, but not the 750,000 Scots resident in England.

 

Where will it all end?  English nationalism?  Independence for the Isle of Wight?  Not much support for the latter at the moment, as the Isle of Wight Party is not after independence but a fixed link (bridge or tunnel) between the island and the English mainland.  There was a Vectis National Party in the 1970s, which campaigned for independence on the basis that it believed the sale of the Isle of Wight to England in 1293 was unconstitutional.

 

That’s the kind of historical grudge that could grow into a major movement one day.

 

 

Pots and kettles

There is something deliciously amusing about the complaints by Chelsea about alleged comments made by referee Mark Clattenburg during their game against Manchester United yesterday.  These comments are said to include some inappropriate racial language.

 

All this from the club that has supported John Terry throughout the Anton Ferdinand affair and all the allegations about racial insults that were involved. 

 

Pots and kettles.

 

Monday Moan 20

‘Honest’ Harry

The producer of Match of The Day must have thought himself a very lucky man on Saturday night when he saw the dismal performance of Arsenal against Norwich.  Not only had he got himself a match that people would want to watch – small club upsets one of the big-time Charlies – but he had already booked ‘Honest’ Harry Redknapp as a guest pundit for the show.  What a stroke of luck to have 'Honest' Harry there on the day that his old foes at Arsenal gave such a feeble and embarrassing display against the mighty Norwich.

Notwithstanding the rave reviews Arsenal had received on previous MOTD programmes earlier in the season, ‘Honest’ Harry let us all know that the resentment and personal hurt are still as strong as ever they were during the period he failed miserably to move his Tottenham side above Arsenal for the first time since Noah set sail. Paraphrasing, he said that Arsenal were rubbish and a weak team and had no chance of getting into the top 4 this season. Of course, still essentially the same team that managed to rise from the floor of a 0-2 deficit against his much-hyped Tottenham side the last time they met, so much so that Arsenal ended up 5-2 victors that day.  That must have hurt.

Still, no sour grapes on ‘Honest’ Harry’s part, I’m sure.  His comments on Saturday must have been entirely objective, in the best traditions of a pundit with no axe to grind.

 

Andrew Mitchell – just a common yob?

So, after more time in the news than is often accorded to major earthquakes or similar natural disasters, Andrew Mitchell eventually succumbed to what he saw as the inevitable and resigned from the Government.  His crime?  A cynic might say it was to commit an error of judgement when there was not much else in the news to force the Opposition to concentrate on more important matters.

I am as puzzled as the next person as to where the truth lies between Andrew Mitchell’s very sketchy account of his engagement with the forces of law, order and security at the entrance to Downing Street a few weeks ago, and the apparent accounts of those forces themselves.  Mitchell denies the words attributed to him by those forces, but still felt guilty enough to apologise for whatever it was that he did say. I don’t suppose we’ll ever know the truth.

But what are we to make of the Labour Party’s pursuit of this issue as though it was a matter of the utmost importance?  Could it be that they knew if they kept on about it Mitchell would eventually have to resign – thus handing them a ‘victory’?  Even though I imagine most people groaned out loud whenever Ed Miliband returned to the theme at PM’s Questions. 

And was Ed right to suggest that Mitchell had been afforded treatment not granted to a common yob – who would have spent a night in the cells for verbally abusing a policeman?  That always seemed to me a slightly ridiculous assertion – as a quick look at any of the many documentaries currently on TV showing the police in action would demonstrate.  These fly-on-the-wall documentaries charting the forces of law and order’s everyday attempts to deal with drunken yobs on  a Friday night, or errant motorists, or groups of young people intent on making life miserable for the communities in which they live, all show that you can get away with a huge amount of abuse and foul language towards the police without being arrested.  I don’t agree with it, but it seems to be a fact. 

As with so many things, the reality of life seems to be very different from the picture painted, or imagined by our politicians.

 

 

How could this have been undetected – Part 1

I don’t wish to say much about Jimmy Savile, partly because I know no more than you, since my only sources of information are also available to you.  I might wonder whether the level of ‘evidence’ apparently available today is very different from that which was available to the various police forces who looked into allegations whilst he was still alive.  I might wonder if the standard of evidence required is now much lower since he is no longer with us, and since he can’t answer back.

But my chief worry in all this is how this could have failed to emerge whilst he was still alive, given the apparent scale of what went on?  I know all about his good works for charity and how he was regarded as beyond suspicion.  But it also seems that whilst many complaints were made, nobody made a connection between them and so a broad picture never emerged.  How could this have happened?  Surely some of those allegations came to the attention of the marauding and insatiable investigative reporters of the national media?  Why was it that they did not pursue their prey with the same vigour as they would almost anyone else?

 

How could this have been undetected – Part 2

And on the same track – although with a very different set of circumstances, how did the world of cycling fail to find out the truth of the Lance Armstrong doping allegations after so many investigations over so many years?  It’s incredible that a sport so intimately associated with drugs scandals over the years could have failed to spot the Armstrong situation, given the amount of testing done generally and, specifically, of the man himself.

Monday Moan 19

What An Example

Sitting on a bus going into one of our lovely provincial cities from the Park & Ride facility on Saturday I shared the top deck with a family group – Grandad, Grandma, Dad, Mum and child.  The child wondered why Grandad was sitting a few seats in front of the rest of them – “that’s so I can fart when I want to” explained the senior gentleman.  Nice.

 

The rest of the journey was no better.  The Grandad’s and Dad’s ‘conversations’ were littered with expletives, delivered at full volume so everybody on the bus could hear.  There was a running commentary on everything outside and an assessment of everybody they saw. 

 

Loud, obnoxious, opinionated, foul-mouthed …… what an appalling example to the poor child.  She may turn out to have respect for others and to behave in a civilised way, but if she does it will be no thanks to her relatives. 

 

Shame on them.

 

 

Any Chance Of A Seat?

Later in the city it was time for lunch.  Everywhere was busy but we didn’t want a full meal so decided to go to one of the many Starbucks/Costas/Pret A Manger/Caffè Nero-type places that have replaced the sandwich bar and cafes of the past.

Finding food wasn’t much of a problem.  But finding a couple of seats was.  Plenty of seats in the venue but mostly occupied, at the height of a busy Saturday lunchtime, by groups of people lingering over a cup of coffee and a very long chat.  At least there was no evidence in the particular place we chose of the laptop brigade – who can manage to make a single drink last for hours as they occupy a whole table with their laptops and papers.  Mind you, we found them at another place later in the day when all we wanted was a quick refresher after sightseeing and shopping.

What is it with such people?  Why is it that they think it acceptable to occupy space in a busy restaurant when their own food (if they ever had any in the first place) and drink has been consumed and they are just sitting around chatting, when people with food cannot find a space to eat?    Ask them to move up to make room, or perhaps ask if they are about to go and you are likely to be ignored, given a withering look or perhaps verbal abuse.

And why do the establishments themselves not do something about it?  Go out to a proper restaurant and overstay and you are quite likely to be asked to leave if there are others who are waiting for a table. 

 

Not Just The Crude

Whilst I’m on about it, there are plenty of others who can be intrusive and obnoxious in public places, as well as the foul-mouthed ones mentioned earlier.

Whilst less offensive than my bus companions, I’m not really that happy to find my ears assaulted by braying children of the rich who want everyone to know about their fabulous holidays, expensive sports activities, how Mummy or Daddy do this or that, or anything else of a similar ilk.

Whatever happened to private conversations between people in public places?  I try very hard to keep whatever I say to my table companion between the two of us and not to broadcast everything I say to everybody else in the place.

But then I’m not showing off, I’m not bragging, and I’m not wanting everyone to see me and know how important, rich, clever or funny I am.  I’m just out for a quiet day with someone I’ve chosen to be with and who wants to be with me.  We want to enjoy ourselves without imposing on others.

I know, that makes me weird.

 

Chicken Or Egg?

I wandered into the hell that is Primark during my city outing and found myself wondering whether the shop and its ethos were the cause of mess that is their sales floors or whether it was all the fault of their customers.  If you have shopped in one of their stores you will know what I mean – clothes all over the floor, customers rifling through piles of t-shirts or the like looking for their size and not worrying about those that fall on the floor around them, let alone folding them up again and putting them back afterwards if they decide not to buy.

You see similar things at other stores during sales times – as people rush to try to find the bargains and just leave discarded clothes on the floor. 

Is it the cheapness of the clothes that makes people behave like this?  Are there just too many customers trying to get hold of the goods so that they have no time or space to put things back?  Are the employees not trained or bothered to tidy up?

I don’t know the answer, and it is probably a combination of many things, but it all makes for a depressing experience, made worse by the knowledge that the clothes won’t last, so you’ll have to go through it all again soon.

  

You Are Only As Good As Your Last Gig

Clare Balding was one of the media stars of the Olympics and Paralympics.  Her stock rose to new heights as she was lauded as the best TV presenter, a person who knew what she was talking about, who had presence, authority and humour in just the right proportions.

It must have seemed like a good idea for her to accept the offer to chair last week’s ‘Have I Got News For You’ as a means of furthering her reputation. 

I doubt that she thinks so now.  HIGNFY is a show I like.  It usually manages to cover (loosely) the key topics of the week in a lively and entertaining way.  But not this week.  It might have seemed obvious to comment upon the Jimmy Savile revelations and upon Abu Hamza’s arrival in NY but, unfortunately, neither worked and we faced a series of tasteless jokes and embarrassed reactions from the audience that left the performers wriggling uncomfortably in their seats – and this despite what were undoubtedly the best efforts of those whose job it is to edit the mass of footage into a sharp and funny half hour programme.

A good reputation can so easily be tarnished by one calamitous appearance – I hope for Clare’s sake this is not something she’ll live to regret.

Monday Moan 18

I’m just a common man …..

So, Ed Miliband is a common man, a man who has shared the life experiences of an ordinary person, who knows what most of the UK population have to face in their everyday lives – he is, therefore, one of us and someone we can trust.

Well yes, to a point.  I’m not sure that those who have described Haverstock school as ‘Labour’s Eton’ have got it right.  It is not and never was one of the best schools in London, arguably not even in Camden.  But it did and does seem to attract a reasonable number of the pink socialists of Hampstead and Primrose Hill, for whom sending their children to a Comprehensive school is a badge of honour, but let’s make sure it’s a good school.

The real difference with Ed, of course, was that he had a famous academic for a father, which must have helped with securing the attention of his teachers.  Ed also managed to move on from the school to both Oxford and Harvard universities – good for him, but hardly typical of your average UK voter.

More to the point, poor old Ed just doesn’t look the part, does he?  I mean, we should not be so superficial as to think that presentation and personality are all that matter, but it is undeniable that to be taken seriously as a potential Prime Minister you have to score well on both counts. 

That’s a shame for Ed.  It’s also a shame for the Labour Party and UK politics generally.  I can’t help thinking that if the names on the ballot paper for leader had not included 2 Milibands then the voters might not have got so confused and elected the wrong man.

 

 

Give us a story – any story will do

The big story on the eve of the Tory Conference was about Jeremy Hunt’s quote that he personally favoured a 12-week limit for abortions – just as he had voted for last time the issue came up in Parliament.  Nothing surprising there and hardly newsworthy really, even though Jeremy is now the Health Secretary.

As with other issues of what we might call belief or conscience, votes in Parliament on abortion are not cast along party political lines – the parties themselves do not have policies, leaving decisions on how to vote to individual MPs.

The Government has no plans to review the current arrangements so it’s a non-story – except for what it tells us about Jeremy Hunt.  Let’s see, he was the man who somehow emerged from the shambles of his handling of the BSkyB takeover fiasco still in his job, despite what almost everybody believed was, on the most charitable of views of his behaviour, thorough incompetence on his part.  

Of course, he was also the man who nearly nearly decapitated an innocent bystander at the start of the Olympics.

It really is a miracle that the man has risen to his current position, isn’t it?  On abortion he is quoted as saying, “my own view is that 12 weeks is the right point for it. It is just my view about that incredibly difficult question ………. I don't think the reason I have that view is for religious reasons.”

Hmm. Should we worry that he appears not to know whether or not he holds his views for religious reasons?  Maybe the truth is that he should have stopped his remarks after uttering the words “I don’t think.”

 

 

Who are these people?

What is it that makes some of our political leaders feel the need to have a group of supporters sitting behind them during their party conference speeches?  All the backdrop people get to see is the back of their leader yet they are supposed to look enthralled, hanging on every word. They must, above all else, stay awake, of course!

Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband took different approaches when selecting their supporters.  Nick’s looked like they were serious party workers, had heard it all before, and were less than inspired by what they heard.  Ed’s, on the other hand, looked like they were waiting to audition for Glee, all bright-eyed and hanging on Mr Leader’s every word.

 

But if they have to have them there, isn’t it rude not to turn round and acknowledge them during their speeches? 

 

 

Monday Moan 17

An apology

The Moan would like to apologise for its non-appearance last week. This was due to my enjoying a holiday – free from the things that make me moan every other week. 

I have been back only a few days, have not yet completely forgotten my break and so am not up to full moaning capability, but enough to warrant this edition L

 

Pots and Kettles

The ‘Hubris Syndrome’ is said to be a medical condition that affects political or other leaders once they have been in power for too long.  It appears to have been invented by Lord David Owen – very handy when you are trying to build a speaking career after your own political ambitions have withered and gone.

In a move probably not entirely unconnected with the launch of a new edition of his book ‘The Hubris Syndrome’, Owen’s latest claim is that Tony Blair is a sufferer from the syndrome.  Hmm.

On the face of it, many of the characteristics Owen ascribes to the ‘condition’ might be said to apply to Blair – taking actions likely to cast oneself in a good light; giving priority to concerns of personal image and presentation; displaying messianic zeal and exaltation; displaying excessive self-confidence; maintaining an unshakeable belief in being right.  

But then aren’t these the characteristics of almost all successful politicians?  And wasn’t one Lord Owen often accused of many of these same things when he decided to leave the Labour Party and form the Social Democratic Party (SDP) back in 1981?  He did this because he didn’t agree with the direction the Labour Party was taking.  Tony Blair, of course, felt much the same some years later, but unlike Lord Owen he decided to stay in the Party and try to secure change from within.  New Labour was, in effect, the party Lord Owen had wanted the SDP to become.  Tony Blair was its charismatic leader, perhaps the sort of leader Lord Owen had imagined himself to be.  Tony Blair held power as Prime Minister and brought huge changes to the country during his time, no doubt as Lord Owen had wanted to do when he formed the SDP.

Hubris may be a common factor amongst people who wield great power, but is it a ‘syndrome’ deserving of description as a medical condition?  Doing so might sell some books and provide a new career direction. It might even be a factor in inventing the syndrome and writing about it.  Perhaps Lord Owen would like to do a little self-analysis?

Life is not Black and White

I am getting very irritated by the number of politicians and commentators who have decided to engage in the rather tiresome game of ‘answer the question – yes, or no’.

Ed Miliband does it at PM’s Questions, various Select Committee members do so when the cameras are on during an Inquiry, tv interviewers adopt it when trying to pin-down politicians on-air.  The latest example I saw was Tom Bradby, Political Editor at ITN, who indulged himself in this way in an interview with Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister, at last week’s Liberal Democratic Conference.  Did he find the Tories in Cabinet to be arrogant, yes or no?  Clegg, whatever you might think of him, is too experienced to fall for that approach and so declined to give Bradby the one word answer he sought.  So Bradby asked the question – again and again.  Boring and childish.

The world is not black or white, left or right, up or down, right or wrong, in or out.  There are places in between, contexts, details and explanations.  Maybe people who engage in this kind of simpleton’s approach to questioning have watched too many courtroom dramas on film or tv, where the lawyers extract a damning confession by badgering the witness.  But real life isn’t like that and I wish that they would not insult their targets or their audiences by pretending otherwise.

  

Will Gompertz – Why?

The BBC’s Arts Editor Will Gompertz appears on our screens only to give some free publicity to somebody who is launching a show, has written a book, is appearing somewhere for some reason, or anything along those lines.  In other words, he provides free plugs on-air to millions of potential customers.

Most often I see him at the tail-end of BBC News programmes, when the day’s news has been given and there are a few minutes to fill before we get handed over to our local news programmes.  The introduction that leads to the words “as our Arts Editor Will Gompetz now explains ….” always leave me with a sinking feeling.  Which already famous person is about to get a ‘money-can’t-buy’ free plug now?  Last week it was the turn of J K Rowling, that struggling author, who was given the primetime free plug to talk about her new book. 

Can I withhold a portion of my licence fee payment until the BBC stops this nauseating practice please?

  

British drivers – a cut above

A week abroad on European roads did not reveal that drivers beyond the shores of Britain are courteous beyond belief and always stick to the speed limits.  But it took only a couple of minutes back in this country on Saturday evening to demonstrate, beyond any reasonable doubt, that British drivers are more aggressive, inconsiderate and dangerous than most.  No doubt the crowded nature of our roads doesn’t help.  Quite possibly the speed and potential racing power of modern cars (and vans) of all shapes and sizes simply encourages bad driving.

Whatever the reason, my motoring ‘enjoyment’ ended the moment I touched down at Heathrow and ventured onto the M25.  Shame.