I notice that the British nuclear deterrent didn’t register as separate from the American one.
Ernie Bevin would be livid.
I’m not trying to make some point about the others betraying “true Labour values” or suchlike, I just mean that Corbyn was the one openly using words like socialism, and saying that where Labour had gone wrong was in not standing by it’s traditions.
Truss was really saying the same: “Be more Tory."
I think you’re right on both those, but how Corbyn or Truss viewed *themselves* isn’t the point of why they got elected, it’s how they were viewed by *the party*.
The other candidates in 2015 were queuing up to say Labour needed to move to the centre, Corbyn was the one standing up for socialism.
There’s a special joy in finding that some iconic thing is *not* in fact over-rated, or a disappointment, when you have a nagging feeling beforehand that it’s bound to be.
(I remember having that with “Psycho.” And Venice).
I think you’ll find this is a Safe Space for that problem.
I'm sure there's something in it - partly a conscious decision that to take on the populist right you need a populism of the left (cf Polanski, more or less verbatim) and partly just absorbed through the zeitgeist.
I think it's a lot to do with the US never having run a serious welfare state (partial exception for FDR's New Deal) plus endemic unwillingness to imagine that other countries aren't just inadequate versions of the USA.
Hmm.
Much as I respect the transformation that you wrought in the party, if someone who clearly shares our values says they don't hear us speaking for them, I think we need to take note rather than just say that we are already doing it.
This is spot-on.
Polanski isn’t talking about policy much either, but he is setting out his values, and when you get attention for that people will ask you about policies, which you can use to reinforce your pitch on values.
I listened to that wondering why no-one even commented on what a weird thing it was to say.
Was he worried that the Supreme Leader of Iran was going to enter a beauty contest?
And does he think that the fact that FDR was in a wheelchair prevented him from leading the USA to war?
It is indeed awesome.
Is that a fire inside?
I wish the fuckers would keep out of car parks outside the M25 too.
Also, you kind of know where you are with an outright authoritarian government and keep your head down.
The USA seems very unpredictable and no one knows just what the triggers might be.
Especially as they seem to be based on what you look like rather than how you act.
Reform and the Conservatives are happy to cheer on Trump’s illegal Iran war that could send your energy bills soaring.
Thanks, that's helpful.
Ah, I thought by "new normal" you were suggesting that in the digital/AI world the need to achieve political objectives via military means in real life might somehow be obsolete.
I feel that anyone going down this road is going to be defeated by opponents who stick to the fundamentals.
Fair enough!
And of course most of us have probably encountered the opposite view (that the British Empire was uniquely good, abolished slavery, brought railways, taught the benighted natives the lbw rule, etc etc.)
My favourite are white Australians going on about how terrible British colonialism was.
It’s really not a hypothetical either with:
- Absolutely every other C19th European state
- Russia (if not included in above)
- USA
- Japan
- Imperial China.
etc etc.
That feels a bit too meta for me - I feel real kinetic warfare ultimately involves being smacked by reality.
I don't see, for example, any way for Putin to "declare victory" in Ukraine now, and I think it will be hard for Trump so long as oil prices are high - there will be political consequences.
I agree with @ayoub.bsky.social that “Israel’s territorial ambitions and drive for total domination far outweigh any commitment to long-term regional stability.”
And reviews from the rest of the world on that were mixed, so....
I can only do one episode per night and in fact sometimes have to take a night or two off.
(This is probably a result of growing up when you had to wait a whole fucking week between episodes of anything except Corrie.)
This.
(“they” in this context being the Lib Dems.)
I'm afraid I am completely in favour of having animals instead of people on British banknotes.
Although to be truly representative of British wildlife one should be a seagull nicking someone's chips and another two foxes shagging behind a dustbin.
“Boss, you asked us to find out who is responsible for corruption and incompetence in the armed forces.
First the good news: We’ve found them! Now the bad news….err…."
This is in fact the logical conclusion of Trump’s “great man” view of geopolitics (as explained by Fiona Hill) in which Trump, Putin, Xi, Kim, assorted tech oligarchs etc are people who can change the world via deals, or be assassinated. Everyone else is just a class of people who react like sheep.
Well, most of them are thieves and buffoons so there's a chance it might be.
You'd improve the chances of the US winning the Iran War immeasurably if you sacked the US Commander-in-Chief and Secretary of Defense.
3. Trump still has more than two and a half years to run. The more unpopular he gets, the greater temptation to flail and use the assets in his control.
4. Other areas of incompetence have yet to be fully tested. RFK Jr has not created a global health risk. So far.
Don't expect speedy solution
2. The administration is as incompetent as you'd expect of a group in which Pete Hegseth is in charge of War (sic.)
Anyone tying themselves to Trump better get used to that. That's bad for Nigel but also to some extent Starmer (and Macron, Carney etc in this crisis.)
