The US Government have now nationalised three major institutions in the course of a fortnight, so what could be more pleasurable than going to FreeRepublic, home of right wing nutcases, to hear them wail about how they are now living in a socialist republic?
I find it odd that most media sources said that Thursday's commemoration events for 9/11 were in some way a 'suspension of electioneering'. Sure, the speeches were by George Bush II rather than John McCain or Barack Obama, but this extract from the president's speech at the Pentagon sounds to me like pure propaganda for his 'war on terror' notion:
When our enemies attacked the Pentagon, they pierced the rings of this building. But they could not break the resolve of the United States Armed Forces. Since 9/11, our troops have taken the fight to the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at home. Thanks to the brave men and women, and all those who work to keep us safe, there has not been another attack on our soil in 2,557 days. (Applause.)
For future generations, this memorial will be a place of learning. The day will come when most Americans have no living memory of the events of September the 11th. When they visit this memorial, they will learn that the 21st century began with a great struggle between the forces of freedom and the forces of terror. They will learn that this generation of Americans met its duty -- we did not tire, we did not falter, and we did not fail. They will learn that freedom prevailed because the desire for liberty lives in the heart of every man, woman, and child on Earth.
I know that Today is produced by the middle classes for the middle classes but even so I was astonished that the 8.10 slot today was given over to a long grumble by the well-spoken white middle-class sister of an armed gunman who was shot by the police.
I don't doubt that she's grieving, and looking for answers, but her complaints about the police could basically be summarised as "Why did they have to shoot him - it's not like he was black or poor".
I remember Today doing interviews on unarmed people shot by police (Menezes, Harry Stanley) but never when the victim was an armed gunman taking potshots out of his window.
I posted this over at Metafilter, but it's very much what I've been feeling today, so I thought I post it here too.
There was a free vote but Labour MPs mostly backed the status quo - leaving anti-abortion campaigners pinning their hopes on a change of government.
Another day, another set of half-baked policy prescription from one of Gordon's imports. This time it's Quentin Davies, former Tory MP, who has produced an idea that will get the backing of peppery ex-colonels up and down the country: a bank holiday to celebrate the Armed Forces.
Personally, I'd quite like to honour the armed forces by having a sensible foreign policy that didn't say 'me too' to every American-led adventure, but I am sure that's a hopeless dream. Adding a new bank holiday to celebrate the forces seems like the sort of thing the Government would have done after the Indian Mutiny, not in the 21st century. It seems quite American too, as we might expect from this PM.
I don't want people to hate the military, or to beat up soldiers for wearing their uniforms (something that has a strong whiff of urban legend, to my mind). But I also don't want a contentious bank holiday full of tabloid masturbation about our grand imperial past and how we bashed the Hun back in the jolly old days. We get that every time we play Germany at football, anyway.
