An Urgent Request
Can someone explain just what the hell Aaro is on about.
I'm in two minds regarding the Foley scandal. Naturally, I'm very pleased that this is a tabloid-simple scandal which is going to harm the Republican Party and may ... no, I can't say it. I'm not superstitious exactly, but I'll write about it when it happens. But there's another side to the revelations: one which would concern DA if he stopped to think about it. Senator Foley's concern about nudist camps was comically over the top, but child protection is a worthy aim. The next politician who proposed a bill which has anything to do with child abuse will face a lot of interest in their private life. I'm not at all sure that it will be a good thing if journalists start writing things like "A nod's as good as a wink to a blind bat" or "the bigger the front the bigger the back" or "you know what they say about child abuse campaigners, don't you, don't you, eh?"
Anyway, the interesting legacy of Foley is not that he once wrote to Jeb Bush about fiddle playing teen naturists but that Federal authorities say such messages could result in Foley's prosecution, under some of the same laws he helped to enact. Now that's what I call self-destructive! (Source: Wikipedia.)
Now if someone else had written Dave's third paragraph, rather than PC Aaronovitch, might one detect a whiff of homophobia? And I don't know what to make of
That said, I don't understand the rest of the piece at all. It's clearly thrown Dave's dedicated commenter Nick (South Africa) who took it to mean that Cameron is a clone of Blair. But DA admires Blair, and he plainly hates Cameron, so that can't be what he means. But it would be easier if DA actually quoted Cameron rather than making up the speeches he doesn't like. Easier for me, as a reader, that is.
I'm in two minds regarding the Foley scandal. Naturally, I'm very pleased that this is a tabloid-simple scandal which is going to harm the Republican Party and may ... no, I can't say it. I'm not superstitious exactly, but I'll write about it when it happens. But there's another side to the revelations: one which would concern DA if he stopped to think about it. Senator Foley's concern about nudist camps was comically over the top, but child protection is a worthy aim. The next politician who proposed a bill which has anything to do with child abuse will face a lot of interest in their private life. I'm not at all sure that it will be a good thing if journalists start writing things like "A nod's as good as a wink to a blind bat" or "the bigger the front the bigger the back" or "you know what they say about child abuse campaigners, don't you, don't you, eh?"
Anyway, the interesting legacy of Foley is not that he once wrote to Jeb Bush about fiddle playing teen naturists but that Federal authorities say such messages could result in Foley's prosecution, under some of the same laws he helped to enact. Now that's what I call self-destructive! (Source: Wikipedia.)
Now if someone else had written Dave's third paragraph, rather than PC Aaronovitch, might one detect a whiff of homophobia? And I don't know what to make of
He [Cameron]’s probably already casting around for Somali boys for his daughter to marry when she’s old enough.I think he's accusing the Tory leader of faux-tokenism and underlying racism, and a very old-fashioned approach to bringing up daughters. But it's also possible that he's suggesting that Cameron will cozy up to anyone - even the most horrible reactionaries on the planet: Muslim men.
That said, I don't understand the rest of the piece at all. It's clearly thrown Dave's dedicated commenter Nick (South Africa) who took it to mean that Cameron is a clone of Blair. But DA admires Blair, and he plainly hates Cameron, so that can't be what he means. But it would be easier if DA actually quoted Cameron rather than making up the speeches he doesn't like. Easier for me, as a reader, that is.
posted by The Rioja Kid at 10/03/2006 11:17:00 AM
3 Comments:
I don't think Dave hates Cameron. He (this time last year if memory serves) was calling him the future. Or was that Osborne? No, it must have been Cameron - Dave's not that silly.
I liked Aaro's contention that "they’re letting morons go to university these days — paid for by our hard-earned tax money " is one tory slogan - it also seems to be Nick Cohen's current position
I did think "hates" was a little strong, but he compares Cameron to Sun Myung Moon, which is pretty rough. And to Mark Foley - and given that DA has teenagers, he's probably far more yucked out by Foley than I am, so that's not nice either. Then he suggests that Cameron is "probably already casting around for Somali boys for his daughter to marry when she’s old enough". I assume DA is a devoted dad himself, so he's saying that Cameron (unlike him) cares so little about his children that he'll use them to further his career (unlike Tony Blair, who at least tries to keep Euan out of the media spotlight), and the 'Somali boys' bit may as well read 'Neanderthal sexist terrorists', really. If DA doesn't hate Cameron, he puts on a good impression.
IIRC DA has three daughters, so the 'casting around' may be an Aaronovitch household in-joke that he'd like to have some say in his daughter's friends.
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