Warning: Political Post

This is the convergence of several lines of thought I've been coping with in my mad little brain recently. I've also just finished watching my shiny new The West Wing Season 4 DVDs. It's somewhat stream-of-consciousness, so I might make some typographical errors or, as I have in the past, say the complete opposite of what I mean.

So, I've been thinking about politics a bit lately. It's not really because of some small-scale election somewhere over the ocean- I actually really don't care that much which of the two evils you end up with- we're all screwed anyway, right?

What I would like to know is this: When did 'liberal' become such a dirty word? When did 'liberal' come to mean 'heading for the ninth circle of hell' or soft-headed sucker? I really don't understand.

'The level of hatred the right feels for the left is only matched by the level of contempt the left feels for the right.'

When did this become the case? I was under the impression that party-based politics was suppposed to engender intelligent debate, that it was supposed to make sure that voices were heard above the general din, When did it change to hate and contempt? Aren't the things that bind us together stronger than the things that divide us? I thought that one could disagree with another but still have some sort of respect for the other opinion. Where the naffing hell did that idea disappear to?

I suppose this post is inspired by this Guardian initiative of sorts. For those who don't want to click the link, people from the Guardian newspaper and Guardian readers here wrote to people in Clark County, Ohio to ask them not to vote for Bush, or something. People have responded by the campaign bus-load, and while some have been in favour, most haven't. And that's fine- I personally don't think it was a very good idea for several reasons. That's not what bothers me. It's the nature of the responses. Only a few have been 'Er, I personally don't think you should be butting into our politics thanks' and the majority have been 'If you want to have a meaningful election in your crappy little island full of shitty food and yellow teeth, then maybe you should try not to sell your sovereignty out to Brussels and Berlin, dipshit. Oh, yeah - and brush your goddamned teeth, you filthy animals.'

That's a quote from someone in Wading River, NY. Now, one or two idiotic responses like that wouldn't bother me. I understand perfectly that Ohioans and other Americans don't take kindly to the Guardian's 'meddling'. I probably wouldn't either. That said, there are ways to articulate that and attacking false stereotypes of who we are isn't really the best way to do that. Other gems include mentioning 1776, tea and other such rancid, clapped-out stereotypes. Are there really people in America, or anywhere else for that matter, who think we still give a flying one about not owning America anymore? We really don't. Not because we don't like you- a lot of us actually really do- but because we're not jingoistic imperialists anymore.

However, just as the author of that note took offence at Guardian readers writing to them to ask them to think about not voting for Bush, I take offence at the idea that we're not allowed to voice an opinion. Now, I don't know what was written in any of the letters except those posted at the Guardian's site. I don't know if some of them went along the lines of 'BUSH IS A WANKER! IF YOU VOTE FOR HIM THEN U ARE TEH SUXXORS!!!1!'. I don't know. But when did voicing an opinion become such an unpopular concept? I was under the impression we are still allowed an opinion, especially when the result of this election will impact on us. Have no doubt about it- did you know that Bush and his cronies want to send British troops into the bits the US haven't been able to solve, to send them to the really dangerous bits? Please bear in mind that many of us really didn't want this war. I know many of you didn't either, but I think many people here are really beginning to get angry at the fact our boys and girls are being sent into places they really weren't ever supposed to be. We're tired of being lied to by Blair and we're really tired of being lied to by Bush. You see, you guys might not like us telling you what to do, but that goes both ways. I don't think it's out of the realms of acceptable behaviour to appeal to voters- isn't it what people there are doing too?

We do live in a worldwide society, and in my opinion, it's a bit rich of some Americans (I'm not talking about any political affiliations here) to wholeheartedly embrace a  war abroad and cling to isolationist notions too. You can have your cake, you can even eat it, but don't blame us if we ask you to at least think about it first.

I should make it clear right now that I'm not attacking anyone in a uniform, American, British or whoever else joined the Coalition of Whatever currently in Iraq or Afghanistan (yes, there are still soldiers there, although you wouldn't think it to look at the media). I'm attacking the decision to send them there and then say to the rest of the world "Stop interfering in our affairs!"

In the end, I'm going to ask you all to vote the way your conscience demands. If you make your decision based on domestic healthcare promises or foreign military promises or haircuts, I'll respect your decision whether I agree or not. Just don't attack us for taking an interest, ok?

With that, I should go off and print some CVs so I can go to this Media Careers Day tomorrow. You see, our country's as fucked as yours is and even if I do get a job and even if I do manage to pay off my student loans eventually and even if I do manage to one day hop on the property ladder and even if I do manage to afford to you know, live, when I reach pension age I won't have a pension and so will die from malnutrition and extreme hypothermia in a rat-infested, crumbling ex-council flat.

C'est la vie.

PS. Most British people I know have good teeth. I don't know where this stupid idea came from, but could it fuck off and die? I have fucked up teeth but it's my own fault and I'm not really the norm. So there.

Warning: Political Post

This is the convergence of several lines of thought I've been coping with in my mad little brain recently. I've also just finished watching my shiny new The West Wing Season 4 DVDs. It's somewhat stream-of-consciousness, so I might make some typographical errors or, as I have in the past, say the complete opposite of what I mean.

So, I've been thinking about politics a bit lately. It's not really because of some small-scale election somewhere over the ocean- I actually really don't care that much which of the two evils you end up with- we're all screwed anyway, right?

What I would like to know is this: When did 'liberal' become such a dirty word? When did 'liberal' come to mean 'heading for the ninth circle of hell' or soft-headed sucker? I really don't understand.

'The level of hatred the right feels for the left is only matched by the level of contempt the left feels for the right.'

When did this become the case? I was under the impression that party-based politics was suppposed to engender intelligent debate, that it was supposed to make sure that voices were heard above the general din, When did it change to hate and contempt? Aren't the things that bind us together stronger than the things that divide us? I thought that one could disagree with another but still have some sort of respect for the other opinion. Where the naffing hell did that idea disappear to?

I suppose this post is inspired by this Guardian initiative of sorts. For those who don't want to click the link, people from the Guardian newspaper and Guardian readers here wrote to people in Clark County, Ohio to ask them not to vote for Bush, or something. People have responded by the campaign bus-load, and while some have been in favour, most haven't. And that's fine- I personally don't think it was a very good idea for several reasons. That's not what bothers me. It's the nature of the responses. Only a few have been 'Er, I personally don't think you should be butting into our politics thanks' and the majority have been 'If you want to have a meaningful election in your crappy little island full of shitty food and yellow teeth, then maybe you should try not to sell your sovereignty out to Brussels and Berlin, dipshit. Oh, yeah - and brush your goddamned teeth, you filthy animals.'

That's a quote from someone in Wading River, NY. Now, one or two idiotic responses like that wouldn't bother me. I understand perfectly that Ohioans and other Americans don't take kindly to the Guardian's 'meddling'. I probably wouldn't either. That said, there are ways to articulate that and attacking false stereotypes of who we are isn't really the best way to do that. Other gems include mentioning 1776, tea and other such rancid, clapped-out stereotypes. Are there really people in America, or anywhere else for that matter, who think we still give a flying one about not owning America anymore? We really don't. Not because we don't like you- a lot of us actually really do- but because we're not jingoistic imperialists anymore.

However, just as the author of that note took offence at Guardian readers writing to them to ask them to think about not voting for Bush, I take offence at the idea that we're not allowed to voice an opinion. Now, I don't know what was written in any of the letters except those posted at the Guardian's site. I don't know if some of them went along the lines of 'BUSH IS A WANKER! IF YOU VOTE FOR HIM THEN U ARE TEH SUXXORS!!!1!'. I don't know. But when did voicing an opinion become such an unpopular concept? I was under the impression we are still allowed an opinion, especially when the result of this election will impact on us. Have no doubt about it- did you know that Bush and his cronies want to send British troops into the bits the US haven't been able to solve, to send them to the really dangerous bits? Please bear in mind that many of us really didn't want this war. I know many of you didn't either, but I think many people here are really beginning to get angry at the fact our boys and girls are being sent into places they really weren't ever supposed to be. We're tired of being lied to by Blair and we're really tired of being lied to by Bush. You see, you guys might not like us telling you what to do, but that goes both ways. I don't think it's out of the realms of acceptable behaviour to appeal to voters- isn't it what people there are doing too?

We do live in a worldwide society, and in my opinion, it's a bit rich of some Americans (I'm not talking about any political affiliations here) to wholeheartedly embrace a  war abroad and cling to isolationist notions too. You can have your cake, you can even eat it, but don't blame us if we ask you to at least think about it first.

I should make it clear right now that I'm not attacking anyone in a uniform, American, British or whoever else joined the Coalition of Whatever currently in Iraq or Afghanistan (yes, there are still soldiers there, although you wouldn't think it to look at the media). I'm attacking the decision to send them there and then say to the rest of the world "Stop interfering in our affairs!"

In the end, I'm going to ask you all to vote the way your conscience demands. If you make your decision based on domestic healthcare promises or foreign military promises or haircuts, I'll respect your decision whether I agree or not. Just don't attack us for taking an interest, ok?

With that, I should go off and print some CVs so I can go to this Media Careers Day tomorrow. You see, our country's as fucked as yours is and even if I do get a job and even if I do manage to pay off my student loans eventually and even if I do manage to one day hop on the property ladder and even if I do manage to afford to you know, live, when I reach pension age I won't have a pension and so will die from malnutrition and extreme hypothermia in a rat-infested, crumbling ex-council flat.

C'est la vie.

PS. Most British people I know have good teeth. I don't know where this stupid idea came from, but could it fuck off and die? I have fucked up teeth but it's my own fault and I'm not really the norm. So there.