nice hot cuppa tea
Yesterday I heard Tony Blair speak (and not badly, all things considered): I read one splendid speech from Red Ken (here), and I read two reactions, one American and one British, that struck me as profoundly wrong-headed, and wrong-headed in exactly the same way. (I don’t doubt others have said similar things: I pick these two because I happened to read them both yesterday, and they come from utterly opposing political viewpoints, except for their shared belief that the terrorist attack ought to be allowed to change British thinking.)
Tacitus, yesterday: “Perhaps the villains’ expectation is that the Briton will quail as the Spaniard, reacting to massacre with headlong flight from foreign fields. I think not. About me, I see older Scots with a steely flint in their eyes. The reckoning will come. There is a soul of honor beneath the ribs of death.”
George Galloway, yesterday: “We urge the government to remove people in this country from harms way, as the Spanish government acted to remove its people from harm, by ending the occupation of Iraq and by turning its full attention to the development of a real solution to the wider conflicts in the Middle East.”
They’re both wrong, and this is why.
Well said, Jes. I don’t think the Brits will change their views one iota after these attacks. As i read in that wonderful humor thread you had yesterday, the sentiment toward Al Qaeda is “Fuck you, we have been bombed by professionals!”.
That will make these cowards run more than anything. We in the US did exactly what they wanted by becoming shrill, hyserical and afraid. Now if your media doesn’t replay the attacks endlessly freaking people out you might be able to keep this up.
Posted by on 07/08 at 12:17 PMI’m so tired of Tacitus’ repeating of the tired winger trope that the Spaniards “capitulated” to “terra”. Their gov’t had led them into a war they didn’t want, a war that is to any sane person itself a crime. Their gov’t responded to the Madrid bombings by LYING about them, early, often and boldfacedly, in order to advance a political agenda.
The Spanish people voted out a reactionary rightist bunch of greedhead lying war criminals.
Posted by on 07/08 at 01:15 PMTacitus has been masturbating over War novels for far too long and romanticizes the worst of all the Empire fantasies given his distaste for Muslims. He’d launch the full blown Crusades 2005 if he had any power to do so. He’s like Lex Luthor, a good mind gone mad.
Posted by on 07/08 at 01:35 PMhmm Tacitus. Old gamer with the really really tired gambit of the “yawn”, LOL. Galloway (I love his writings and he was wonderful to watch in congressional hearings) but older gamer.
I never saw the Spanish vote as so affected by 11.M, more by the lying…
Be interesting to watch the vicious gaming between Blair and Bush… interesting and awful. I am so damned sick of both of them.
Thanks for your posts Jes.
Posted by on 07/08 at 02:47 PMLiberal Oasis has been reprinting the first few sentences from British blogs, all on the same theme. “We Brits will not compromise our democracy and adopt a version of the Patriot Act because of this attack!”
Bravo to the British!!!
Posted by Rich on 07/09 at 02:36 PM
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