Wednesday, May 12, 2010

UK Coalition

Impressive, those Brits. Somehow, I cannot imagine a similar ruling coalition here in the US of A. With whom would the Republicans coalesce? Certainly not with a center or center-left party. Maybe they might join forces with a hard right . . . oops, they are hard right. Libertarians? Doubtful. Greens? Whoa, I think not.

Perhaps what we need here is an actual center right party, of hmmm, let’s see, compassionate conservatives, i.e. conservatives who believed in the liberties granted by the Constitution, and who understood that the US is not a religious (Christian) theocracy, and who believed that all Americans deserved decent health care, and . . . oh, but you get it. See, David Cameron described himself as a “compassionate conservative” despite the fact that Shrub thoroughly trashed that term. Here it means, someone who has compassion for the many problems besetting the uber-rich. Cameron apparently is either oblivious to the current meaning of the term, or he means to inject new life into the term (or he’s an idiot?). Perhaps he represents an older generation of rich people, that group that understood and acted upon the concept of nobless oblige, the view that with wealth, power and prestige come social responsibilities, implying a moral obligation to act with honor, kindliness and generosity. People like Shrub, Sarah Palin, and Rupert Murdoch, of course, recognize no such obligation, and they act accordingly. Perhaps the Brits might reawaken the concept here, allowing us to move past idiots like Murdoch and his Faux News Network.

So perhaps we should watch our British friends with considerable care for clues as to the new meaning of compassionate conservatism. It may prove both entertaining and enlightening.

And on another front, Dickie Bird Cheney’s old firm, Halliburton, claims it has no knowledge of how that massive blowout occurred, but it certainly had nothing to do with Halliburton’s known ineptitude. Heckuvajob Brownie thinks it’s all because Obama doesn’t care . . . anyone want to buy a nice bridge in Brooklyn?

No comments: