Melanie Phillips OMG!
Melanie Phillips is not usually on topic for AW(i'WoD'), because she's not Decent - she's a fairly standard American culture-war rightwinger who's accidentally living a couple of thousand kliks too far East. But she has really been raising the bar and taking it to a whole new level in terms of terribleness in British blogging, and brings Oliver Kamm into her most recent Kulturkampf, bringing it into our bailiwick. Questions for discussion clearly include - can you possibly imagine Kamm being this polite to anyone on the political left who asked him whether he thought the credit crisis was due to a failing of public morality?
posted by The Rioja Kid at 10/17/2008 03:47:00 PM
21 Comments:
Also I think if a left-wing British commentator talked about McCain as she does about Obama it would be termed 'anti-Americanism'.
Do you know, I've had a fucking awful day.
Really dreadful. I have been fucked around by everybody who could have done so in every way that they could have done so.
I have also lost a large amount of money (no, not the stock market) and received quite a lot of bad financial news aside from that.
I have had it up to here and further up.
And then I read this:
I don't much care whether Palin believes in a hundred ridiculous things before breakfast -- because what she stands for is a defence of bedrock western moral values against the nihilistic onslaught.
and for the first time today, I laughed out loud.
well, glad to be of some small help; hope things turn out all right.
That’s because I regard evangelicals as allies in the fight to defend authentic liberal, and thus moral, values which I believe are rooted in Judeo-Christian thinking.
Nick bandies the L word around, but I'd be really interested to hear MM's definition of "liberal".
I think Ms Phillips's piece is just an example of "Why the Crisis Mean That We Must Support My Politics.
We've seen quite a few of these pieces, and I expect we'll be seeing a lot more in the future. Socialists will explain how free markets caused the crisis, libertarians will explain how it was all due to government regulation, racists will explain that it was because banks had to give loans to black people, and so on.
Oh dear. Hope you are feeling better soon. Whenever I'm feeling down I always find a quick perusal of Mel's blog cheers me up. Its a comedy goldmine and a reminder that however angry and frustrated you are currently feeling, Mel is always feeling more angry and frustrated.
Ah, it's OK, I'll be seeing a cat later. They can always be relied on to let you know that you and your troubles are of no significance.
They should probably have cats in place of religion.
Actually, they should probably have cats in place of people....
So what's the consensus - is Mel totally bonkers or is she just an incredibly dishonest hack who has decided that tapping into the wingnut demographic is ker-ching!?
Incidentally, should not a woman who draws upon the Lessons Of History in such an ostentatious way hesitate before blaming a religious minority for the state of the financial markets?
Perhaps Mad Mel thinks she's the potential Sarah Palin of British Politics? Is there a post of Governor of the Orkneys and Shetlands? That would get the ball rolling...
Although we have agreed that a) there is no such thing as AW(i'WoD') official editorial policy and b) even if there was, I am not the definitive voice of it, I think I have at least the small amount of ceremonial responsibility to make such pronouncements as:
"Aw hey, do look after yourself Justin"
on behalf of the entire editorial collective. And therefore I hereby do so.
So what's the consensus - is Mel totally bonkers or is she just an incredibly dishonest hack who has decided that tapping into the wingnut demographic is ker-ching!?
I'm afraid she's completely Becontree.
The financial crisis was brought about essentially by a public which threw away all notions of prudence and committed itself to spending today what it could never afford to pay back tomorrow
Nothing to do with stagnant wages and rising costs for the last thirty years in the US then. Instead of rising wages, they are sold loans, which they have to pay back with interest.
To call Mel stupid would be an insult to stupid people.
the appalling Joe Biden, whose career has been defined by serial grovelling to and appeasement of Iran with all the disastrous consequences that have flowed from that.
Eh? Okay, Biden is not a Super-Hawk, but he's pretty hawkish. One really wonders who would satisfy Mel in that category. Presumably only Bolton, but he was miles away from a VP pick.
that FDR talked to the public about it on TV, which was not yet possible at that time.
But he was captured on film talking about it.
Today's headline news re Phil Woolas prompts me to ask after the progress of the 'Decent Racism' post? You might find new material in the Woolas interview if you are looking for a New Labour angle on the topic, cf 'the very real concerns' of the 'white working class' which are probably foremost in his mind.
... the appalling Joe Biden, whose career has been defined by serial grovelling to and appeasement of Iran with all the disastrous consequences that have flowed from that.
Well I don't believe everything I read on Wikipedia, but ...:
Biden is a self-described Zionist. He is highly supportive of the state of Israel and views Israel as a strategic ally in the Middle East. He stated that "the Arab nations have known that there is no daylight between us and Israel."
In early September 2008, Haaretz quoting an un-sourced report from Israel Army Radio which stated that Biden had reportedly told Israeli officials in private that Israel "will have to reconcile itself with the nuclearization of Iran." Biden denied he had ever made this statement or any similar statments. David Wade, a Biden spokesman, stated that “This is a lie peddled by partisan opponents of Senators Obama and Biden and we will not tolerate anyone questioning Senator Biden’s 35-year record of standing up for the security of Israel.” Wade also stated that Biden' views a nuclear Iran as “grave threat to Israel and the United States.” Israeli officials later reported that the original story appeared “dubious”.
As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Biden has been a prominent voice calling for "hard-headed diplomacy" with Iran.
Eh? Okay, Biden is not a Super-Hawk, but he's pretty hawkish. One really wonders who would satisfy Mel in that category
Binyamin Netanyahu?
Gastro, you poor sick fool, don't you see the flaw in your own reasoning? Biden on Wikipedia: blah, blah, blah, diplomacy, blah ....
All that will appease (ha!) Mel is nuclear war with all the stops out and gallant little Israel protected by a force-bubble while the rest of the Middle East burns! Anything less is grovelling.
Woolas is a close ally of John Mann (from NOLS days). Mann is the closest thing there is to a Harry's Place MP.
The similarities between these arguments and those mounted in the 1930s, by people who did not grasp the threat posed by Nazi Germany and thought 'jaw-jaw' was better than 'war-war', are uncanny. These are indeed the all too familiar weasel words of appeasement.
Melanie Phillips. The quotation is of course Winston Churchill.
pesto pete I think Ms Phillips's piece is just an example of "Why the Crisis Mean That We Must Support My Politics.
Loved the original post: I've had a similar observation for ages which goes 'If I ruled the world, every day would be the first day of spring' (Harry Seacombe). I suspect the internet equivalent is: 'It's my blog post; you just get to comment on it' (reading duff articles on Comment is Free often prompts this, let alone the prospect of reading anything by Nick).
[redpesto]
"The quotation is of course Winston Churchill."
And he said it in the '50s, so its connection to appeasement is unclear.
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