Jumble Sailing
Okay...I have limited online access from here and so we must blunder our way through a furtive jumble sale of politics stolen from the pages of the BBC. Sadly our involuntary convention still applies...I throw this together in the daytime but have to squeeze it into the internet many hours later.
Hmm, jumble sale...I like that. A little tweaking and it shall be our title for today, and we also get to reference a marvellous Clearlake song for no reason whatsoever.
Hoonapoloser
Commons leader Geoff Hoon has suggested compulsory voting – a well-worn boot and many politicians have put their foot in it over the years.
"We need to get people more engaged in political processes, to explain, to take through the argument from the local level," [Hoon] told BBC2's the Daily Politics. "The idea of having a debate about compulsory voting is to get that engagement ... these are my ideas, my thoughts." -– BBC News.
Again we see the problem leap out at us with flames pouring out of its head and a million klaxons wailing...compulsory voting would not tackle any of the problems that caused voting attendance to drop in the first place. Forcing the percentage of non-voters down would be a nice little plaque on the wall, a pleasing statistic to bandy about in the Commons tea room; meanwhile, millions of people would text in their “none of the above” vote and continue to be disillusioned.
Looking at a few reports on this, that point has already been made many times in response to Hoon’s suggestion. From the BBC story itself, works and pension minister Mr Plaskitt said "If the voters are drifting away from participating then they are actually telling us something about the offer that all the political parties are making to the electorate and they are telling us they are not satisfied with that."
Ah, but this does not argue against the suggestion, merely the reasoning behind it. Compulsory voting is neither an idea we are comfortable with nor something that is easy to dismiss without making vague noises about democracy and human rights. We are adept at bending democracy into meaning “let us do what the hell we want”...anything that avoids any kind of responsibility in a system that is defined as government by the people. Yet this is not an argument in itself for bringing in compulsory voting...merely an observation that we should not dismiss the idea in our usual lazy manner.
BLAIR 2 WIN HE IZ FIT!!!11!!!1!
Hang on, let us go back a few paragraphs...text message voting? This is a subject that raises its head repeatedly but upon examination proves irrelevant in the scheme of things. It would not lead to a rise in voting because there is no chance of a live feed of two ministers fucking in a jacuzzi. Security disasters aside, though, it would be a convenient thing to have, if hopelessly confusing for everyone over the age of 40. The smart money is on the beleaguered old gentleman being too frightened to send in a text message in case he switches on the television and hears his vote being read out by Ant and Dec.
The Image of Don Foster
When a man steps forward and publicly announces that a particular somebody should give a sum of money to charity, the world always spits out its coffee in disbelief and derision. And into this bleak arena, step forward Don Foster MP...
Bunch of Savages in this Town
"The G8 is going to focus on really important issues and to be quite honest I'm not going to disparage anybody." -– Tony Blair.
Jacques Chirac has been saying things. But leaving aside the fact that Tony Blair needs to work on his verbosity to make his case more efficaciously, this story is five inches away from being an irritating non-story. We all understand and make allowances for Chirac’s insane descent into a puffed-up, boorish nutcase. What gives the story legs is the company Chirac was keeping when he made the jokes. The thought sends a chill down the spine. Do our leaders always gather together and sneer at our expense?
Surely not. Tony Blair for one does not seem the type to wallow in such wretched jokes, or indeed any kind of genuine and unforced japery. He has no sense of humour these days and there is little about which to laugh. He is a prime minister and nothing else; it is inconceivable to even imagine him as anything else but the man who presides over us in his fog of conviction and belief. When he finally steps down he will disintegrate into dust with a loud poof and we shall never see him again, until the next time we empty the vacuum cleaner.
Unless...well, with ex-president Clinton striking up a rum old golfing friendship with George Bush senior in recent months, perhaps Blair will scuttle off to the lair of Margaret Thatcher and spend the remainder of his days lying at her feet and waggling his little legs in the air.
Res Ipsa Loquitur
“Not every act has benefited [from Live8], however. Pete Doherty's former band The Libertines saw sales of their Up the Bracket album drop by 35%.” -– BBC News. (source)
Thirty Seven?
To hell with politics. Before we end this thing, my earlier use of the phrase “bunch of savages...” reminds me of two beautiful things. Not only will Clerks shortly be coming out as a three DVD release (region 2), but Kevin Smith is shooting a sequel provisionally called The Passion of the Clerks. To most fans this news is a year old and they will be weeping pointedly at my ineptitude, but I have an excuse; I'm not even supposed to be here today. When I found this all out last night I found myself infected by the chaotic spirit of Blakey from On the Buses as I told all and sundry “this has made my day, this has.” Indeed, I am still smiling between the affected grimaces. Just let us hope that Smith has the good sense not to put a plot in the thing. Anything else would be wrong.
Hmm, jumble sale...I like that. A little tweaking and it shall be our title for today, and we also get to reference a marvellous Clearlake song for no reason whatsoever.
Hoonapoloser
Commons leader Geoff Hoon has suggested compulsory voting – a well-worn boot and many politicians have put their foot in it over the years.
"We need to get people more engaged in political processes, to explain, to take through the argument from the local level," [Hoon] told BBC2's the Daily Politics. "The idea of having a debate about compulsory voting is to get that engagement ... these are my ideas, my thoughts." -– BBC News.
Again we see the problem leap out at us with flames pouring out of its head and a million klaxons wailing...compulsory voting would not tackle any of the problems that caused voting attendance to drop in the first place. Forcing the percentage of non-voters down would be a nice little plaque on the wall, a pleasing statistic to bandy about in the Commons tea room; meanwhile, millions of people would text in their “none of the above” vote and continue to be disillusioned.
Looking at a few reports on this, that point has already been made many times in response to Hoon’s suggestion. From the BBC story itself, works and pension minister Mr Plaskitt said "If the voters are drifting away from participating then they are actually telling us something about the offer that all the political parties are making to the electorate and they are telling us they are not satisfied with that."
Ah, but this does not argue against the suggestion, merely the reasoning behind it. Compulsory voting is neither an idea we are comfortable with nor something that is easy to dismiss without making vague noises about democracy and human rights. We are adept at bending democracy into meaning “let us do what the hell we want”...anything that avoids any kind of responsibility in a system that is defined as government by the people. Yet this is not an argument in itself for bringing in compulsory voting...merely an observation that we should not dismiss the idea in our usual lazy manner.
BLAIR 2 WIN HE IZ FIT!!!11!!!1!
Hang on, let us go back a few paragraphs...text message voting? This is a subject that raises its head repeatedly but upon examination proves irrelevant in the scheme of things. It would not lead to a rise in voting because there is no chance of a live feed of two ministers fucking in a jacuzzi. Security disasters aside, though, it would be a convenient thing to have, if hopelessly confusing for everyone over the age of 40. The smart money is on the beleaguered old gentleman being too frightened to send in a text message in case he switches on the television and hears his vote being read out by Ant and Dec.
The Image of Don Foster
When a man steps forward and publicly announces that a particular somebody should give a sum of money to charity, the world always spits out its coffee in disbelief and derision. And into this bleak arena, step forward Don Foster MP...
Bunch of Savages in this Town
"The G8 is going to focus on really important issues and to be quite honest I'm not going to disparage anybody." -– Tony Blair.
Jacques Chirac has been saying things. But leaving aside the fact that Tony Blair needs to work on his verbosity to make his case more efficaciously, this story is five inches away from being an irritating non-story. We all understand and make allowances for Chirac’s insane descent into a puffed-up, boorish nutcase. What gives the story legs is the company Chirac was keeping when he made the jokes. The thought sends a chill down the spine. Do our leaders always gather together and sneer at our expense?
Surely not. Tony Blair for one does not seem the type to wallow in such wretched jokes, or indeed any kind of genuine and unforced japery. He has no sense of humour these days and there is little about which to laugh. He is a prime minister and nothing else; it is inconceivable to even imagine him as anything else but the man who presides over us in his fog of conviction and belief. When he finally steps down he will disintegrate into dust with a loud poof and we shall never see him again, until the next time we empty the vacuum cleaner.
Unless...well, with ex-president Clinton striking up a rum old golfing friendship with George Bush senior in recent months, perhaps Blair will scuttle off to the lair of Margaret Thatcher and spend the remainder of his days lying at her feet and waggling his little legs in the air.
Res Ipsa Loquitur
“Not every act has benefited [from Live8], however. Pete Doherty's former band The Libertines saw sales of their Up the Bracket album drop by 35%.” -– BBC News. (source)
Thirty Seven?
To hell with politics. Before we end this thing, my earlier use of the phrase “bunch of savages...” reminds me of two beautiful things. Not only will Clerks shortly be coming out as a three DVD release (region 2), but Kevin Smith is shooting a sequel provisionally called The Passion of the Clerks. To most fans this news is a year old and they will be weeping pointedly at my ineptitude, but I have an excuse; I'm not even supposed to be here today. When I found this all out last night I found myself infected by the chaotic spirit of Blakey from On the Buses as I told all and sundry “this has made my day, this has.” Indeed, I am still smiling between the affected grimaces. Just let us hope that Smith has the good sense not to put a plot in the thing. Anything else would be wrong.
posted by Jamie at 10:09 PM
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