tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15037609.post1219008555962120200..comments2023-10-01T16:53:17.274+01:00Comments on Cicero's Songs: America's futureCicerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02090838836212624633noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15037609.post-20196637827396304872008-09-09T17:11:00.000+01:002008-09-09T17:11:00.000+01:00Errm, small and unimportant? Alaska? What with all...Errm, small and unimportant? Alaska? What with all that energy and being close to Russia? What on earth are you talking about? May I suggest you read James Bennett's article in the Telegraph today about the pipeline she negotiated:<BR/> <BR/>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/09/09/do0904.xml<BR/><BR/>That will give you some idea how small and unimportant Alaska is and hos inexperienced Governor Palin (no law degree) is.Helenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13799545178433498944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15037609.post-4527617510366070442008-09-07T22:04:00.000+01:002008-09-07T22:04:00.000+01:00I really am going to say " I told you so " when it...I really am going to say " I told you so " when it's President Palin in 2012 .the doctorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16158338414362607008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15037609.post-69629207963038320422008-09-06T01:35:00.000+01:002008-09-06T01:35:00.000+01:00Ewart said -This explains why Con Home & their...Ewart said -This explains why Con Home & their sorry tribe of followers are such enthusiastic McCain backers.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Partly Ewart (by the way, what you say about the Conservative Party is absolutely wrong ) ,but also because McCain is a more reliable hand on defence and a free trader which Obamah is not ( what else matters to us ? ). Also a perhaps stronger revulsion to the religiose clap trap self love and vacuous celebrity endorsement that accompanies the Democrats .You might call it idealism… <BR/>I think Conservatives are happy to let other people say what makes sense in their own country without wishing to make universal judgements. Liberals tend to imagine they have a monopoly on truth which we do not require. CS is actually talking about her adherence to religious beliefs no more ridiculous taken in a rational context than many more .<BR/>Would Mr. Cicero want Jews Muslims Catholics and so on banned from Political life because they believe in an after life of the sinfulness of homosexuality or , variously , the absolute sanctity of life . Of course not because he sees these as victim groups whereas he sees himself as a force of light and reason against the darkness of superstition which is fundamentalist Christianity. Personally I am tolerant of religious and culturally specific markers.<BR/>Lets be literal then. I accuses Mr C of being a far right religious bigot inferred this from his deriding Palins religious convictions and supporting an ultra low tax Part by UK standards<BR/><BR/>Not really , I wouldn’t want to upset anyone , just making a point.. I do know what you mean about Con Home though, and narrowly avoided being banned from Iain Dale’s site for calling Tim Montgomery a Po faced Nazi. He is the sort of Conservative I like least .( He is never never never funny…..)<BR/><BR/>( Would the Liberal Party be a small and unimportant part of the body politic ...?)Newmaniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11922161971821380803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15037609.post-65795835729957406212008-09-05T23:08:00.000+01:002008-09-05T23:08:00.000+01:00Okay, if we're going to debate this...define what ...Okay, if we're going to debate this...define what exactly you mean by "small and unimportant part of the body politic." Would you define Derbyshire, for instance, in similar terms, or the Highlands and Islands, or Cornwall? Is a politician seriously to be disregarded on account of the fact that they come from outside the Metropolitan elite?Paul Linfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01977920120772282561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15037609.post-84660029111253698222008-09-05T13:50:00.000+01:002008-09-05T13:50:00.000+01:00Newmania, you're almost there but not quite.Yo...Newmania, you're almost there but not quite.<BR/><BR/>You have correctly identified that it's incongrous for the Tories to be allied to Republicans automatically. But they are, because this "sceptical pessimism" is much rarer than you think it is, in party which is actually full of neoliberal ideologues & culture warriors who want to politicise everyday life.<BR/><BR/>This explains why ConHome & their sorry tribe of followers are such enthusiastic McCain backers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15037609.post-59206666593629405512008-09-05T13:32:00.000+01:002008-09-05T13:32:00.000+01:00Oh come on Paul! Is "elitism" such a bad word? Thi...Oh come on Paul! Is "elitism" such a bad word? This woman shouldn't be let within 100 miles of the Oval office- she is a totaly unqualified, slightly barking creationist nutter with a few niggling ethics problems. Biden may be a fully fledged member of the pompous political elite, but he has at least had a passport for longer than two years and was talking about Iraq while the war was still being planned- unlike Palin who "hadn't thought about it" until last year.<BR/><BR/>This pick is reckless and stupid and should cost McCain the Presidency.Cicerohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02090838836212624633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15037609.post-71737238534731906992008-09-05T11:08:00.000+01:002008-09-05T11:08:00.000+01:00Possibly the most patronising blog post I have rea...Possibly the most patronising blog post I have read in a long, long time.<BR/><BR/>"Mrs. Palin is not outside politics - she is just from an exceptionally small and unimportant part of the American body politic." What elitist claptrap.Paul Linfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01977920120772282561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15037609.post-19911572737439168332008-09-05T10:57:00.000+01:002008-09-05T10:57:00.000+01:00yes newmania, I wrote about it myself the other da...yes newmania, I wrote about it myself the other day. Conservatives seem automatically to support the Reps but why? If a Palin type figure were to appear what support would she find - she'd barely be able to get elected as mayor to a town of 9,000 .......oh,wait......Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15037609.post-72726626503764908152008-09-05T09:43:00.000+01:002008-09-05T09:43:00.000+01:00I`m really surprised at this angle of attack , th...I`m really surprised at this angle of attack , that business of ‘experience ’ is pretty much an illusion. That’s what civil servants are for .Her chief role is to enact the views she holds which people either work for or not . My own working experience tells me that any idiot can lurk in the recesses of a large organisation and a small one is exactly where you do have to know what you are doing . You seem to be arguing for the value of an educational and political elite like the Oxbridge Westminster Media elite we suffer here . Odd.<BR/>She seemed rather impressive to me .<BR/>What I find harder to imagine is that someone with such odd religious beliefs can be a credible candidate . A creationist , someone who believes gays are sinful and so on. Much the same applies to a Ruth Kelly , most Muslims , I suppose but then I have always found their position a bit peculiar. Her views on abortion are fierce as well , even by my standards and I would certainly like to see the upper limit lowered considerably <BR/>The strange thing about US Politics is that as Conservatives we are supposed to support the Republican Party and yet they are very different with little I notice of the sceptical pessimism that characterises Conservative thought in Britain . Liberals do sound a bit like the Democratic Party but were a Palin to appear in this country I would be horrifiedNewmaniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11922161971821380803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15037609.post-22669168149922067342008-09-05T09:35:00.000+01:002008-09-05T09:35:00.000+01:00Let's not forget Cicero was a lawyer, he's bound t...Let's not forget Cicero was a lawyer, he's bound to be biased towards his lawyerly brothers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15037609.post-74257636346881252622008-09-05T09:34:00.000+01:002008-09-05T09:34:00.000+01:00Aboslutely! Palin, although a young woman, seems t...Aboslutely! Palin, although a young woman, seems to be cut driectly from the cloth of the old, fundalmentalist conservative that the Republicans are seeped with. Her views are now well known and it's a bracing thought that it's the year 2008 and we have someone with beliefs like hers running on a presidential ticket. And I agree with you that this shows the character and decision making abilities of McCain; if his VP pick was someone different the landscape towards november would change dramatically.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15037609.post-44232102705684388992008-09-05T02:22:00.000+01:002008-09-05T02:22:00.000+01:00I'm afraid that you are not making any coherent se...I'm afraid that you are not making any coherent sense, or else you are contradicting yourself.<BR/><BR/>First you complain that Palin has not enough experience, and claim that Biden would make a better President if called upon because of his experience and influence on the political system. Then you say that you oppose the rise of the political class, yet don't count Palin because she is from politics. Yet she is not from a political background, she entered politics for her own reasons, and made her own way.<BR/><BR/>So are you saying that anyone with political experience is in the political class regardless of their background, a class which you oppose, but that anyone without political experience should be ineligable for high office?<BR/><BR/>You cannot break up the political class without admitting some people with little experience but great skill in governing, as well as political manoeuvring. Whatever her time of experience she has used it to the full and shown aptitude, exactly the opposite of Obama's history. He has shown little ability in governing, he is just an adept speaker and politician. He has had more time than Palin in political roles, he just hasn't done as much with it. That is not what the office of President needs.<BR/><BR/>Education is not a good test of who will make a good political leader. There are many people with good degrees who have made terrible politicians, and many with weak or no academic backgrounds who are very successful.<BR/><BR/>In fact if you look at Obama's academic history it is ... I was going to say poor, but bizarre would be a more apt word. He was a tenured academic who didn't publish. He has a history in his political speaking of making statements suggesting ignorance of the US constitution, despite having held an academic post in constitutional law.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com