• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

Let me file that under fuck it.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

So many bastards, so little time.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

It’s the corruption, stupid.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / English lessons

English lessons

by DougJ|  May 2, 20103:30 pm| 100 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Good News For Conservatives

FacebookTweetEmail

Although the UK elections are still a few days away, one thing is already clear: whatever happens will be bad news for Obama.

It is also very likely that the elections will teach us a number of important lessons about American politics. The lesson could be that Obama needs to avoid “Gordon Brown” moments. It could be that Obama needs to move to the center. It could be that Republicans need to find their own David Cameron. It could be that Nick Clegg’s improbable rise bodes well for Sarah Palin, Scott Brown, and John Thune.

Any other ideas on what the lessons and bad news will be?

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Pens v. Habs Open Thread
Next Post: Ninety Days of Hell from Decades of Neglect »

Reader Interactions

100Comments

  1. 1.

    The Main Gauche of Mild Reason

    May 2, 2010 at 3:34 pm

    All I have to say is that Nick Clegg, as a “lefty, intellectual, professorial type” puts Barack Obama to shame.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Clegg

  2. 2.

    freelancer (itouch)

    May 2, 2010 at 3:35 pm

    No. Just…No.

  3. 3.

    Carrie

    May 2, 2010 at 3:35 pm

    Always make sure your mic is turned off after visiting constituents?

  4. 4.

    Violet

    May 2, 2010 at 3:36 pm

    “Conservatives are back!” Even though “Conservatives” in Britain look a lot more like liberal Democrats here than tea partiers.

    Also, “Leftists are bigots.” If a leftist like Gordon Brown said it, it’s true for all leftists here as well.

    And, conservative concern trolls will discuss how much more difficult it’s going to be for Obama to work with either Cameron (if he wins) or a hung Parliament (if that happens) than it was to work with Blair/Brown/Labour. And how Obama is going to have a much harder time maintaining our “special relationship” than Bush did, because clearly UK voters are repudiating Obama’s policies with their votes in their own election.

  5. 5.

    DougJ

    May 2, 2010 at 3:37 pm

    @Violet:

    Also, “Leftists are bigots.” If a leftist like Gordon Brown said it, it’s true for all leftists here as well.

    Ding, ding, we have a winner.

  6. 6.

    astrodem

    May 2, 2010 at 3:39 pm

    Good news for John McCain. It always is.

  7. 7.

    MTiffany

    May 2, 2010 at 3:42 pm

    Obama should have identified as white rather than black, because none of the contenders for UK PM are black?

  8. 8.

    cleek

    May 2, 2010 at 3:44 pm

    Obama has ruined our “special relationship” by allowing a {whatever} like {whomever} to get elected. why wasn’t he twisting arms and using the bully pulpit to sway the British public ?

  9. 9.

    Chyron HR

    May 2, 2010 at 3:44 pm

    Which of them will be the 42nd vote against Obamacare?

  10. 10.

    Will

    May 2, 2010 at 3:44 pm

    The Democratic party has only one reflex & that is to go right

  11. 11.

    zhak

    May 2, 2010 at 3:47 pm

    He moves any further to the center & he’ll fall off that righthand cliff.

  12. 12.

    valdivia

    May 2, 2010 at 3:47 pm

    @astrodem:

    got here to late to say this. so I co-sign.

  13. 13.

    wag

    May 2, 2010 at 3:47 pm

    It could be that Nick Clegg’s improbable rise bodes well for Sarah Palin, Scott Brown, and John ThuneJoe Lieberman.

    After all, Joe supposedly represents the “Center” that the media is so fond of. Brown could conceivably fall into that meme, but Palin or Thune? Not a chance.

    Lieberman/Brown 2012! (Snark)

    Dick Greggory can dream, can’t he?

  14. 14.

    Mark S.

    May 2, 2010 at 3:49 pm

    I don’t know anything about British politics, but I’m trying to learn:

    Despite Clegg’s growing popularity — at the moment he is narrowly behind Cameron in the polls — the British electoral system makes it virtually impossible for his party to dominate. But the likely horse-trading would hoist Clegg into the position of kingmaker. He has already stated his price: electoral reform that allows his party to win a number of parliamentary seats more reflective of its popularity in the polls.

    While certain aspects of the parliamentary system appeal to me, I still find it quite foreign. If I lived in Britain and I really liked, say, my Labor representative but I hated Gordon Brown, should I vote for the Labor guy or should I vote for the Lib-Dem guy?

  15. 15.

    Comrade Luke

    May 2, 2010 at 3:53 pm

    In the British Election, It’s Posh, Posher, Poshest

    Good times.

  16. 16.

    CT Voter

    May 2, 2010 at 3:55 pm

    It could be that Nick Clegg’s improbable rise bodes well for

    Marco Rubio. This election in Britain illustrates that Americans are ready for an outsider to come from nowhere and shake things up. And in 2012, we’ll have a Brown/Rubio presidential ticket.

  17. 17.

    eemom

    May 2, 2010 at 3:58 pm

    Their accents are better than ours. It always comes down to that.

  18. 18.

    beltane

    May 2, 2010 at 3:58 pm

    @Mark S.: That has me puzzled too. It’s like not voting for Bernie Sanders because I think Harry Reid, whom I’m not a constituent of, is ineffectual.

  19. 19.

    Joseph Nobles

    May 2, 2010 at 3:59 pm

    Actually I was thinking the 2012 GOP team would be Christie/Rubio, unless they’d like to hold onto that for 2016.

  20. 20.

    FlipYrWhig

    May 2, 2010 at 4:00 pm

    @CT Voter: See, I was thinking Media Clegg = Media Crist, not Rubio: the guy who is taking a stand against the hardened orthodoxies of both major parties, etc. In what everyone thought would be an anti-incumbent year, there turned out to be a new solution rather than swinging the pendulum back to the last party in charge, blah blah blah. I expect that the US media is going to be wildly in love with Crist’s campaign.

  21. 21.

    demkat620

    May 2, 2010 at 4:01 pm

    “This shows the continuing rejection of the leftist, socialist agenda. Even the English have come to realize how destructive non conservative forms of government are” Newt Gingrich, May 7, 2010.

    Mr. Gingrich continued,”This is just the precursor to a Republican sweep in the 2010 and 2012 elections that will return the “Special Relationship” towards a more healthy Reagan-Thatcher model.

  22. 22.

    Martin

    May 2, 2010 at 4:01 pm

    Cameron will win because he didn’t blow up oil rigs near majors cities that suffered calamities by no fault of the previous president.

    By the way, has anyone seen Gordon Brown’s birth certificate? I didn’t think so…

  23. 23.

    FlipYrWhig

    May 2, 2010 at 4:02 pm

    @Joseph Nobles: No Bob McDonnell in either spot on the ticket?

  24. 24.

    Ravi J

    May 2, 2010 at 4:06 pm

    @Mark. S
    You won’t vote for ‘prime minister in U.K. you would vote for your local guy. If you didn’t like Brown, you can force your rep to force brown out of office.

  25. 25.

    Andre

    May 2, 2010 at 4:08 pm

    The coalition government in the UK shows that Obama needs to start living up to all those promises of bipartisanship that he made.

  26. 26.

    MikeJ

    May 2, 2010 at 4:11 pm

    @Mark S.:

    If I lived in Britain and I really liked, say, my Labor representative but I hated Gordon Brown, should I vote for the Labor guy or should I vote for the Lib-Dem guy?

    It’s directly analogous to “what if I don’t like Nancy Pelosi.” You get your rep to get her replaced or elect someone of a different party. Of course then you have to weigh what is more important: getting rid of the speaker(PM) or handing control over to evil fuckwits (Republicans, Tories).

  27. 27.

    freelancer

    May 2, 2010 at 4:13 pm

    DougJ,

    No post on Bill Moyers? His final broadcast was last Friday.

  28. 28.

    Cat

    May 2, 2010 at 4:13 pm

    @Comrade Luke:

    Reagan was our last president who didn’t goto harvard/yale and you are making fun of the British oligarchy?

  29. 29.

    Mark S.

    May 2, 2010 at 4:13 pm

    @Ravi J:

    If you didn’t like Brown, you can force your rep to force brown out of office.

    How? By voting for a non-Labor candidate? In my hypothetical, I like my Labor MP but I don’t like Brown. I assume my Labor MP is going to support Brown.

  30. 30.

    Joshua Norton

    May 2, 2010 at 4:14 pm

    Brits are simply looking for a change because they are fed up with the Tories and Labour. Hence Clegg’s sudden Lib-Dem bounce which appears to be based on only 2 debates. If this country had a third party with any actual sort of political sway, you’d see the same thing here.

  31. 31.

    Citizen Alan

    May 2, 2010 at 4:15 pm

    @cleek:

    Obama has ruined our “special relationship” by allowing a {whatever} like {whomever} to get elected. why wasn’t he twisting arms and using the bully pulpit to sway the British public ?

    To expand on this a bit: Since Obama ruined our “special relationship” with Great Britain, it is more important than ever that he preserve our “special relationship” with Israel be groveling before Netanyahu and begging his forgiveness for ever showing any consideration to the Palestinians.

  32. 32.

    gnomedad

    May 2, 2010 at 4:28 pm

    @Cat:

    Reagan was our last president who didn’t goto harvard/yale

    Didn’t realize that. I guess I finally found a reason to like him.

  33. 33.

    Joseph Nobles

    May 2, 2010 at 4:34 pm

    @FlipYrWhig:

    Please let the Republican Party run a Confederate History Month stealth wingnut against Barack Obama in 2012. Please please please please please. In fact, make it Palin/McDonnell 2012! The only way that ticket could be better is if Michael Steele manages to hang on only to be fired mid-2012 election cycle.

    I see McDonnell as being the best male Dukakis candidate for the GOP in 2012. My Christie/Rubio proposal is something I thought might give Barack some problems, especially if Christie actually does clean up the New Jersey state budget in any appreciable amount. That does remain to be seen, though.

  34. 34.

    asiangrrlMN

    May 2, 2010 at 4:37 pm

    How to spell properly?

    Oh, wait. Not those kind of English lessons.

  35. 35.

    somethingblue

    May 2, 2010 at 4:40 pm

    The results will show that we need an Earl Grey tea party of the radical center, and some of those little cucumber sandwiches.

  36. 36.

    PaulW

    May 2, 2010 at 4:46 pm

    The primary lesson: STOP LISTENING TO THE BELTWAY IDIOTS

  37. 37.

    OriGuy

    May 2, 2010 at 4:51 pm

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Oh, wait. Not those kind of English lessons.

    My first thought involved leather boots and a riding crop.

  38. 38.

    frankdawg

    May 2, 2010 at 4:51 pm

    @demkat620:

    I just threw up in my mouth a little – I hope you are happy.

    I on the other hand am sad, not just because I read that dreck but also because it is so easy to predict exactly what these morons will say for every event.

  39. 39.

    thejoz

    May 2, 2010 at 5:02 pm

    Everything Obama does is “proof” that “the” (some) “American” (mostly insane) have completely rejected his “socialist” (not in the mold of Saint Reagan) policies.

    If Obama announced tomorrow he was joining the Tea Party, the righties would immediately talk shit about him.

    They will never embrace him, no matter what happens in the world, this country, or this reality. So fuck it. They could elect a blue-footed booby to be PM in England and that would be Obama’s fault, so really it just doesn’t matter with the Asylum crowd.

  40. 40.

    YAFB

    May 2, 2010 at 5:03 pm

    English lessons

    I know it wouldn’t make such a catchy post title, but it’s a British General Election. Some of us (Welshman living in Scotland here) are a bit touchy about the conflation of “English” and “British,” so I guess that’s lesson number 1.

    If I lived in Britain and I really liked, say, my Labor representative but I hated Gordon Brown, should I vote for the Labor guy or should I vote for the Lib-Dem guy?

    The metrics are complex over here since we’re not stuck with just two more or less viable choices of parties. We’re used to the idea of tactical voting, so it would depend how marginal the seat was, between which parties, yada yada yada.

    Everything else being equal, since your MP–who presumably has earned your trust by good constituency work etc.–is much more likely to have a direct impact on your circumstances, I’d say you vote for the individual and let the PM dice fall as they will.

    Not least because you’re going to need all the help you can get once whoever wins the election sets about the program of swingeing public service cuts and tax rises that are inevitable.

  41. 41.

    FlipYrWhig

    May 2, 2010 at 5:07 pm

    @Joseph Nobles: I don’t see the appeal of Christie. To me that seems like the Republican Dukakis: “I managed a state well and I’ll apply those lessons to the nation.” Whereas McDonnell might be able to show off both wingnut cred _and_ managerial cred. I don’t see Christie doing anything for the wingnuts.

    But I agree that Rubio is someone to watch out for. He’d be the closest parallel the GOP can muster to Obama ’08: the new guy who has something of an interesting life story, some accomplishments at the state level, and hasn’t been around long enough to be tainted as part of the broken system.

  42. 42.

    asiangrrlMN

    May 2, 2010 at 5:13 pm

    @OriGuy: Newsletter, subscribe, etc., etc.

  43. 43.

    benjoya

    May 2, 2010 at 5:17 pm

    The lesson is: the Liberal Democrats are not in any way liberal and this is the sole basis for their popular appeal.

  44. 44.

    mistersnrub

    May 2, 2010 at 5:25 pm

    The Silly Party is more entertaining than The Sensible Party

  45. 45.

    Cacti

    May 2, 2010 at 5:26 pm

    A victory by (fill in blank) will be “Obama’s Katrina”.

    And whatever happens, it will be good news for John McCain/The GOP.

  46. 46.

    rootless-e

    May 2, 2010 at 5:26 pm

    @FlipYrWhig: Rubio is not white enough for the TeaParty outside of Horrida.

  47. 47.

    KG

    May 2, 2010 at 5:29 pm

    @FlipYrWhig: the Tea Party is already turning on Rubio because of his opposition to the Arizona Papers Law. As an example, take a look at the comments here

  48. 48.

    eemom

    May 2, 2010 at 5:30 pm

    something on this site keeps telling me I’ve been selected to receive a $100 Walmart gift card. Fortunately, it then shuts up.

  49. 49.

    licensed to kill time

    May 2, 2010 at 5:33 pm

    It will teach us that Obama should create a Ministry of Silly Walks, even though his walk is not silly enough and funding is short.

  50. 50.

    Cacti

    May 2, 2010 at 5:34 pm

    @KG:

    I was thinking the same.

    Rubio will get tarred and feathered by the nativists of his party.

  51. 51.

    benjoya

    May 2, 2010 at 5:36 pm

    Oh, and Labor misses the humane, principled leadership of Tony Blair.

  52. 52.

    IM

    May 2, 2010 at 5:36 pm

    Fun fact: the only prime minister of the twentieth century who neither was a Oxford or Cambridge alumni was John Major, who never did go to a university at all.

    Bonus question: What member of the british elite had neither university nor school education?

  53. 53.

    KG

    May 2, 2010 at 5:37 pm

    @Cacti: Rubio is probably sensible on immigration, but one would expect that since he’s the son of immigrants. Plus, he’s got to walk that fine line among Cubans and wet foot/dry foot. It won’t bode well for him with his base if the issue turns to immigration.

  54. 54.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 2, 2010 at 5:42 pm

    @IM: The Queen.

  55. 55.

    Maude

    May 2, 2010 at 5:44 pm

    @eemom:
    I think it’s a pop up. I don’t hear it. I have pop up blocker on K-Meleon, a Mozilla browser.
    It’s hot and humid here, Supposed to have T storms at around midnight.

  56. 56.

    IM

    May 2, 2010 at 5:50 pm

    Well, that was to easy. Fine. Who was the non-anglican prime minister of the twentieth century? (Blair doesn’t count)

  57. 57.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 2, 2010 at 5:54 pm

    @IM: Ramsey MacDonald?

  58. 58.

    The Raven

    May 2, 2010 at 5:58 pm

    Land wars in Asia are good for conservatives?

    Lots of food, too.

  59. 59.

    d.s.

    May 2, 2010 at 6:00 pm

    I remember the conserva-cheers that occurred when Nicholas Sarkozy came to power.

    It was pointless trying to explain to them that for decades the main French left-wing party was the French Communist party, and that the “right wingers” there make Bernie Sanders look like the Heritage Foundation.

    This is way worse, because Cameron’s party is explicitly called the “Conservative” party. Every right wing pundit is going to calling this a massive European repudiation of Obama’s policies, and an endorsement of the Palin/Bachmann ticket.

    Best to just turn the TV off at that point.

  60. 60.

    IM

    May 2, 2010 at 6:00 pm

    @OOmnes Omnibus

    After I wrote this, I wasn’t sure anymore. Macdonald was methodist or so, right. I was thinking of Chamberlain, who was, i think, a Unitarian.

    So he is still the only non trinitarian prime minister and one of the few members of a political dynasty.

  61. 61.

    Sly

    May 2, 2010 at 6:02 pm

    @IM:

    Ramsey MacDonald?

    EDIT: OO beat me to it. MacDonald was a Presbyterian.

  62. 62.

    rikyrah

    May 2, 2010 at 6:03 pm

    don’t know who will win, but I find limiting the OFFICIAL campaign to 6 weeks, downright amazing.

    I hope the guy outta nowhere takes it.

  63. 63.

    Mike in NC

    May 2, 2010 at 6:11 pm

    Although the UK elections are still a few days away, one thing is already clear: whatever happens will be bad news for Obama.

    According to the wingnuts, wasn’t one of Obama’s very first “scandals” about dissing Gordon Brown over some meeting. Or was it about giving the queen some bauble that they felt was inappropriate?

    In any case, the outcome of the UK election will be Obama’s Waterloo Underground.

  64. 64.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 2, 2010 at 6:13 pm

    @IM: Trick question, huh.

  65. 65.

    4tehlulz

    May 2, 2010 at 6:15 pm

    The British elections are Obama’s fifth Katrina

  66. 66.

    IM

    May 2, 2010 at 6:25 pm

    But in this case he was still a member of an established church, if only in Scotland. Chamberlain was a true dissenter! Now I think about, Lloyd George was a nonconformist too and welsh.

    But being non-anglican is still a bit unusual for a tory prime minister.

  67. 67.

    DougJ

    May 2, 2010 at 6:25 pm

    @freelancer:

    No post on Bill Moyers? His final broadcast was last Friday.

    You know, I like the guy but I never watched the show. John and Anne Laurie probably should handle this one.

  68. 68.

    Corner Stone

    May 2, 2010 at 6:26 pm

    Mmmm…Ammmberrr.

  69. 69.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 2, 2010 at 6:27 pm

    @IM: You did say non-Anglican. So there.

  70. 70.

    freelancer

    May 2, 2010 at 6:27 pm

    @DougJ:

    I like the guy but I never watched the show.

    I put together a round up of his best, IMHO.

    If anything, I at least know JK will like it.

  71. 71.

    IM

    May 2, 2010 at 6:27 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Simple ignorance. I should never trust my memory if i have wikipedia a finger tip away.

  72. 72.

    maus

    May 2, 2010 at 6:27 pm

    @PaulW: They’re self-perpetuating, like the T-1000. Unless we destroy the system that sustains them, they’ll just keep re-forming.

  73. 73.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 2, 2010 at 6:32 pm

    @maus: Place de la Révolution

  74. 74.

    Brachiator

    May 2, 2010 at 6:33 pm

    @YAFB:

    Everything else being equal, since your MP—who presumably has earned your trust by good constituency work etc.—is much more likely to have a direct impact on your circumstances, I’d say you vote for the individual and let the PM dice fall as they will.

    But wouldn’t this be the same MP living high on the hog claiming excessive expense allowances?

    Although the UK elections are still a few days away, one thing is already clear: whatever happens will be bad news for Obama.

    Doesn’t this depend on whose got the David Beckham vote.

  75. 75.

    grass

    May 2, 2010 at 6:38 pm

    @IM: Gordon Brown went to the University of Edinburgh. James Callaghan and Churchill also didn’t go to university. Neville Chamberlain went to the Mason Science College, which was the precursor to the Uni of Birmingham, Ramsay MacDonald went to Birbeck in London. Bonar Law didn’t officially go to university, but did attend classes at the Uni of Glasgow. David Lloyd George didn’t go to uni, but became a solicitor by apprenticeship.

    But other than them, you’re right that all the rest went to Oxford or Cambridge except John Major. ; )

    (Information gleaned from wikipedia, mistakes highly likely)

  76. 76.

    Calouste

    May 2, 2010 at 6:51 pm

    @IM:

    Fun fact: the only prime minister of the twentieth century who neither was a Oxford or Cambridge alumni was John Major, who never did go to a university at all.

    Nope, Winston Churchill also didn’t go to university. On the other hand, his uncle was a Duke, his father an MP and he himself went to Eton, so it’s not like he had a crappy start in life.

    Overall btw, since the office of the Prime Minister started in the 18th century, only 7 or 8 of them haven’t been Oxbridge graduates.

  77. 77.

    Allison W.

    May 2, 2010 at 6:54 pm

    Rubio is no match for Obama – no matter how interesting his story may be. No matter what you think of Obama, he has got “IT!” and “IT!” does not come around very often.

  78. 78.

    Martin

    May 2, 2010 at 6:55 pm

    @Mike in NC: The Obamas gave the Queen a cassette tape of Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet. I was deemed inappropriate on many levels.

  79. 79.

    Faux News

    May 2, 2010 at 6:55 pm

    No matter who wins on Thursday the result will be “a grim foreboding for President Obama and the democratic party. The victory of (fill in the blank) clearly means the democrats will lose control of both the House & Senate in the November election”.

    This will be uttered by some shit stain like Beck or Limbaugh.

  80. 80.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 2, 2010 at 6:56 pm

    @Calouste: Churchill went to Harrow, not Eton.

  81. 81.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 2, 2010 at 6:57 pm

    @Martin: Is that because the Queen is an NWA fan?

  82. 82.

    Martin

    May 2, 2010 at 7:00 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Exactly, the Queen is very west-coast gangsta.

  83. 83.

    Violet

    May 2, 2010 at 7:02 pm

    @KG:
    Wow! Just read through those comments. They really are turning on Rubio. This immigration issue could be excellent popcorn fodder as the tea partiers turn on anyone who isn’t “pure white.” Sad, though.

    Sample comments:

    This law needs to be made into a NATIONWIDE law. Get those scumbags out of our country. The Statue of Liberty needs to have an additional sign in her hand….A STOP SIGN.

    Rubio must go. Have you been into a Wal Mart lately in Orlando or any further south in Florida. Pretty scary. It feels like you are the one in somebody elses country.

    Yes, Rubio is one of them. We have laws that need to be enforced, but now the illegals and obviously Rubio thinks it is their right to have rights in our country when they are the one breaking the law by being here without legal status.

    The Florida Senate race is going to be interesting.

  84. 84.

    Mike in NC

    May 2, 2010 at 7:08 pm

    @Calouste:

    Winston Churchill also didn’t go to university. On the other hand, his uncle was a Duke, his father an MP and he himself went to Eton, so it’s not like he had a crappy start in life.

    Today’s paper had an article entitled “Bush’s Reputation May Be Ready For Rebound” with lots of input from assorted toadies and assholes.

    But give him his due: his grandfather was a ditch-digger, his uncle was a shoemaker, his father was an auto mechanic, and his mom was a waitress. He himself worked three jobs to graduate from community college and had a distinguished career in the National Guard. It’s not like he had a special start in life.

  85. 85.

    KG

    May 2, 2010 at 7:16 pm

    @Violet: yeah, I particularly like the Statue of Liberty comment. So much for “give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses yearning to breath free”; now it’s more like, “Fuck you.”

  86. 86.

    Martin

    May 2, 2010 at 7:18 pm

    @KG: Just take down the lamp and have her hold up her middle finger, eh?

  87. 87.

    Violet

    May 2, 2010 at 7:21 pm

    @KG:
    Yeah, no kidding. Typical case of IGMFY. “My ancestors got here, maybe even illegally, but FY to anyone trying to do the same thing now. Go the hell away.”

  88. 88.

    fasteddie9318

    May 2, 2010 at 7:27 pm

    I, for one, look forward to President McCain taking office as Prime Minister of the UK. There are a lot of synergies our two countries can generate under the same leader.

  89. 89.

    IM

    May 2, 2010 at 7:30 pm

    Well, ok. Of course I have a defence: I learned that semi-truth back when major was prime minister, so I could not have learned anything about Brown and Edinburgh. Brown, as well as Callaghan and Chamberlain were never elected prime minister, so there.

    I will never trust the economist again.

  90. 90.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 2, 2010 at 7:38 pm

    @IM: If the economist is Milton Friedman, I would say you have the right idea.

  91. 91.

    IM

    May 2, 2010 at 7:55 pm

    I was talking about the magazin, but that is probably a meaningless distinction in this case.

  92. 92.

    Brachiator

    May 2, 2010 at 7:56 pm

    @grass:

    Churchill also didn’t go to university.

    Uh, Churchill was a descendent of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, one of the most famous and dazzling figures in British history. Also, Churchill attended The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where he graduated eighth out of a class of 150 in December 1894.

    By any measure, Churchill was a member of the upper class. His mother, Jennie, was the daughter of an American millionaire. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, hard up British aristocrats made a thing of marrying rich Americans. The Americans benefited by getting a step up in social status to add extra dash to their wealth.

  93. 93.

    YAFB

    May 2, 2010 at 8:01 pm

    @Brachiator:

    But wouldn’t this be the same MP living high on the hog claiming excessive expense allowances?

    I was just making lemonade out of the lemons Mark S. provided:

    If I lived in Britain and I really liked, say, my Labor representative but I hated Gordon Brown, should I vote for the Labor guy or should I vote for the Lib-Dem guy?

  94. 94.

    Viva BrisVegas

    May 2, 2010 at 8:18 pm

    @YAFB:

    Everything else being equal, since your MP—who presumably has earned your trust by good constituency work etc.—is much more likely to have a direct impact on your circumstances, I’d say you vote for the individual and let the PM dice fall as they will.

    If you want to have a say in who becomes PM, you join a Party and become an officeholder. You can then influence various preselections (=primaries) in safe seats to get your kind of guy elected, making sure that they know who got them their jobs. Those guys form a clique in one of the three voting blocs, (right, center or left, although preferably right) and with enough influence and your guidance, they (you) will determine who becomes PM.

  95. 95.

    Brachiator

    May 2, 2010 at 8:19 pm

    @YAFB:

    I was just making lemonade out of the lemons Mark S. provided: “If I lived in Britain and I really liked, say, my Labor representative but I hated Gordon Brown, should I vote for the Labor guy or should I vote for the Lib-Dem guy?”

    I see your point. I think the strangest thing I’ve seen related to the election is the opinion piece from conservative pundit Peter Hitchens advising his readers to vote for anyone but the Tories because he sees Cameron as a liberal in conservative clothing.

    Here, I guess, Cameron is viewed the way that some American conservatives viewed McCain as being not sufficiently sincere.

  96. 96.

    YAFB

    May 2, 2010 at 8:29 pm

    @Viva BrisVegas:

    Yes, that’s more or less how it’s done in the longer term, but the election’s just less than a week away.

    @Brachiator:

    I think Hitchens is still mourning Thatcher’s demise.

    But there’s a broad swathe of opinion among the right-wingers that the prospect of winning this election is a poisoned chalice:

    Whichever party wins this election will have to inflict such painful austerity measures on the British population that they will soon find themselves out of power for a generation. Not my words, the words of Mervyn King, Bank of England Governor.

    I think I recall similar ideas being expressed over Obama’s win (along with the idea that the Repubs opted for McCain because they didn’t really want to win). It’s working out well for them so far.

  97. 97.

    d.s.

    May 3, 2010 at 12:34 am

    @YAFB:

    In general, once a party starts saying they’re better off losing than winning, they keep losing for a very long time.

    In the UK, elections happen only once every 5 years. There are no midterms. You can be incredibly unpopular the first four years, turn it around in the fifth, and cruise to an easy reelection victory. That’s what happened in Margaret Thatcher’s first term.

  98. 98.

    Ian

    May 3, 2010 at 5:56 am

    Sully’s cheerleading for a party that includes in its rising stars somebody who believes homosexuality is caused by demons that need to be cast out astounds me (except of course, as a Brit, it doesn’t, because he’s a Thatcherite through and through and would support the Tories no matter what, but it does contrast quite a bit with his treatment of the GOP).

  99. 99.

    bob h

    May 3, 2010 at 8:04 am

    The only thing that I find striking about British politics is how sane everyone is.

  100. 100.

    YAFB

    May 4, 2010 at 11:32 pm

    @d.s.:

    “In the UK, elections happen only once every 5 years.”

    Not true. We have no fixed terms here (which brings its own problems). Five years is the maximum gap between elections, but the governing Prime Minister can call one whenever seems advantageous, or indeed be forced to call one by a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons.

    If this next one does end up being a hung parliament, we could see another general election as early as this Autumn.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - Albatrossity - The Birds of May 3
Image by Albatrossity (7/31/25)

World Central Kitchen

Donate

Recent Comments

  • NotMax on Saturday Night Open Thread (Jul 12, 2025 @ 6:53pm)
  • Baud on Saturday Night Open Thread (Jul 12, 2025 @ 6:52pm)
  • zhena gogolia on Saturday Night Open Thread (Jul 12, 2025 @ 6:51pm)
  • mrmoshpotato on Saturday Night Open Thread (Jul 12, 2025 @ 6:50pm)
  • hueyplong on Saturday Night Open Thread (Jul 12, 2025 @ 6:49pm)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!