Turn Your Face to the Wall and Laugh: Stiff upper lip beats slack jawed yokels any day and Americans still can’t vote properly

I have found a new sense of patriotism recently and it is hugely thanks to the Americans. Yes, I have become profoundly haughty to be British born and bread. I can now defend this country with ardour safely knowing that we, the people of the United Kingdom, are not like our American counter parts. Don’t get me wrong there are a lot of things wrong with this country but not in comparison with the United States in which I shall advance to later in the article.

I would also like to thank our Prime Minister and his Labour regime for confirming that yes we are very intelligent people. Why? Well let’s put it this way: when were we last given a referendum to decide the future stance for the UK? If I may I’d like to answer the question for you: 1975. The last national referendum was back in 1975 to decide whether or not the UK should join the European Economic Community (ECC). There have been local referendums between the years of 1997 and 2000 for devolution and on the Mayor of London issue. Two national deciders had since been promised by the Labour Party in their 1997 manifesto (for the Euro and new Electoral system) but have not yet surfaced and I don’t hold any great hope that they ever will.

The recent saga of the revised EU Constitution plan, the Lisbon Treaty, still bothers me greatly. I strongly felt that this was a case for the people to decide due to its complex nature that it could have on our lives. It was a decision that should never have been ratified and if Gordon BrownGordon Brown thinks that he signed it on behalf of the people then he is very delusional. It seems very fatuous to have a European Law over shadow our own Law that can act as a get out clause on certain issues such as extradition and integration with a European vision on how we shall be governed. But of course Mr Brown knew we wouldn’t take kindly to unelected officials from Brussels taking our politics and flipping them around so he took it upon himself to go ahead with it anyway. It’s interesting to note that the House of Commons was incredibly split over the decision compared to ratified votes from other countries. The yes vote (from MP’s) was 346 to 206 no votes. In Spain it was 322 in favour and 6 opposed. Portugal was 281 over 21 against. The Netherlands, who democratically voted no the first time round, was 111 over 39. Italy was a whooping 286 with zero no votes. Germany was 515 in favour with 58 opposed and France was 336 over 52.

So if our own MP’s were split over the decision then I would like to think that a vote from the British public would have swung in opposition. Ireland really stood up and made their voices heard when they democratically voted against the Treaty by 53%. They put our country to shame but I place that burden on the Government.

Also, the public would have voted against the invasion of Iraq had we grasped the chance. The UK went into overdrive with protests against the charade only for it to fall on obstinate ears. Tony BlairTony Blair completely alienated the public with his crusade beside the US (which inevitably sealed his fate as Prime Minister and destroyed his legacy). A huge 63% of the British public thought he had brought America too close for comfort according to World Public Opinion.

I’m still baffled by Blair’s actions because he was a fierce debater and could always hold his own under extreme pressure. He was no idiot. It wasn’t fair on him when he was reduced to President BushPresident Bush’s ‘poodle’ but that’s what happens when you follow and humour a fool… you inevitably become one too. Britain’s piety toward America seemed to go way beyond a friendly handshake which makes me think: what was Mr Blair offered by Bush?

Not only do the Americans worry us but they also humour us with highly entertaining events such as their Presidential Elections. It’s always nice to get a break from our intellectual and very serious politics here in Britain and I have to say Sarah PalinSarah Palin was the star of the show. She is the type of person that defines the average American in the eyes of the World: Stupid, doesn’t read, ends nearly every sentence as if it was a question, likes the sound of their own voice and will say absolutely anything to be able to hear themselves and feel important.

Now, there are a lot of examples to choose from to confirm her mind numbing stupidity but the one I feel represents all of the above is the following taken from her speech in Pittsburgh October 24, 2008:

This is a matter of how we prioritize the money that we spend. We’ve got a three trillion dollar budget, and Congress spends some 18 billion dollars a year on earmarks for political pet projects. That’s more than the shortfall to fully fund the IDEA. And where does a lot of that earmark money end up? It goes to projects having little or nothing to do with the public good — things like fruit fly research in Paris, France, I kid you not. Or a public policy center named for the guy who got the earmark. In our administration, we’re going to reform and refocus. We’re going to get our federal priorities straight, and fulfill our country’s commitment to give every child opportunity and hope in life.

For many parents of children with disabilities, the most valuable thing of all is information. Early identification of a cognitive or other disorder, especially autism, can make a life-changing difference. That’s why we’re going to strengthen NIH. We’re going to work on long-term cures, and in the short-term, we’re going to work on giving these families better information.

What Palin doesn’t seem to understand is that the fruit fly research is held in high regard to help with disabilities like autism… the very disabilities she said in the same speech the Government needed to fund properly in order to achieve results in the pursuit of long term cures. Well Sarah, if you really mean that then perhaps you should lay off the fruit fly or is it just because it’s French based? What were even more worrying were the laughs of approval that followed ‘things like fruit fly research in Paris, France, I kid you not.’ It was a fool talking to fools that if she had it her way the research would be stopped with her clueless mob in support of it.

Even more worrying are these set of statistics:

USA Today/Gallup Poll. Nov. 7-9, 2008. N=1,010 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.

.

“Next, I’d like to get your overall opinion of some people in the news. As I read each name, please say if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of these people or if you have never heard of them. How about Sarah Palin?”

.

Favorable

Unfavorable

Never
Heard of

Unsure

%

%

%

%

11/7-9/08

48

47

2

4

10/3-5/08

51

41

2

6

9/5-7/08

53

28

7

12

.

“Now thinking about Sarah Palin, the Alaska governor who was John McCainJohn McCain’s vice presidential running mate: Regardless of your opinion of her, if you had to guess, do you think Sarah Palin will or will not be a major national political figure for many years to come?”

.

Will

Will Not

Unsure

%

%

%

11/7-9/08

49

49

1

.

“Would you, personally, like to see Sarah Palin be a major national political figure for many years to come, or not?”

.

Would

Would Not

Unsure

%

%

%

11/7-9/08

45

52

2

Another worrying aspect of this whole campaign is how little the American public knew about their other choices. I identified Ron PaulRon Paul as the best possible candidate at the tail end of last year and I was not alone. Ron Paul gathered tremendous success from the Internet and raised a staggering $4.3 million in 24 hours in November of last year. His popularity rose through the roof on the internet but failed offline due to media blackout. The air time he did get was a waste with the likes of Sean HannitySean Hannity personally attacking him and Bill O’Reilly refusing to let him speak. There was also a Larry KingLarry King interview with Dr Paul that was for some reason pulled off air. For what ever reason, the media and the GOP never wanted Paul to get the nomination. Maybe it was due to his disgust at America’s foreign policy and the rape of the US Constitution. He didn’t really fit into the game plan… ah good old democracy. A Gallup Poll shows how good a job mainstream media managed to keep Ron Paul out of the lime light.

Gallup Poll. Oct. 4-7, 2007. N=1,010 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.

“Next, we’d like to get your overall opinion of some people in the news. As I read each name, please say if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of these people or if you have never heard of them. How about Ron Paul?”

.

Favorable

Unfavorable

Never
Heard of

Unsure

%

%

%

%

10/4-7/07

12

13

60

15

Here in the UK our elections are super tense and full on, one might say we take it very seriously. We have feverish coverage full of debates with shows like Question Time and News Night. Even the mainstream media gives us sufficient information. There’s no whinny news anchors bursting into fits because people disagree with them like Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Joe Scarborough etc no, there’s none of that. We don’t want to listen to any one sided bullshit plus we have anchors who can actually ask sensible, coherent and logical questions. Every party gets a slot and a mention; it’s fair and democratic with no name calling or character assassination.

America, and the World for that matter, was led to believe that there were only two candidates running for Presidency. In fact there were four other candidates: Chuck Baldwin, Bob BarrBob Barr, Cynthia McKinney and Ralph NaderRalph Nader. Out of the four I only heard Nader’s name in the passing. American mainstream media failed its people and robbed them of their right to choose. The so called leaders of Democracy are also the leaders of hypocrisy.

America also likes novelties as do the rest of us but they like to add them to their political arena furthermore. This year’s pathetic novelty was ‘Joe the Plumber’ who was probably mentioned more times than their own Constitution. You see when you haven’t got an intelligent audience to speak too you tend to try and humour them by diluting the issues, kind of how you would simplify a problem for a child. Please don’t get me wrong there are intelligent Americans but they are vastly out numbered by the ignorant type who refer the United Kingdom as England, boycotts French imports because of their stance on the war (in which they changed French Fries to ‘Freedom’ Fries) and out shone by their classy politicians who don’t know if Africa is a country or continent.

In fact, the New York Times even picked up on how worrying the American public are becoming from an article back in August 30th, 2005:

American adults in general do not understand what molecules are (other than that they are really small). Fewer than a third can identify DNA as a key to heredity. Only about 10 percent know what radiation is. One adult American in five thinks the Sun revolves around the Earth, an idea science had abandoned by the 17th century.

So yes I am very proud to be British and proud that we have spawned the likes of William ShakespeareShakespeare, Abraham Darby, George Stephenson, Robert BurnsRobert Burns, Christopher & Peter Hitchens, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles etc. I am also safe in the knowledge that there will never be a George W. Bush leading my country, a Sarah Palin embarrassing us vigorously, a 70 year old candidate for leadership who is older than the first ever microwave and a next door neighbour who isn’t Hell bent on owning guns because it feels good. What I do not feel safe about is America’s next move because we certainly are not fooled by the apparent ‘change’ that you all keep talking about. Voting a Democrat in? Some change!