December 10, 2019

"Britian's appalling election"

Here's hoping for the best outcome for Britain and her people.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/in-britains-appalling-election-voters-in-the-middle-dont-like-either-boris-johnson-or-jeremy-corbyn/ar-BBXWnsU

In Britain’s ‘appalling’ election, voters in the middle don’t like either Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn

William Booth, Karla Adam
1210/19
LONDON —By the standards of British elections, the weekend rally at the Mermaid Theatre here was stunning — as two former prime ministers, the Conservative John Major and Labour’s Tony Blair, told voters they didn’t need to back candidates from their parties in Thursday’s election.

The rebellious call to cross party lines by the two elder statesmen — who both oppose Britain leaving the European Union — comes as many feel the choice in the coming election is the worst in a generation.
,,,snip

As the two main parties have moved away from the center and toward what many consider the extremes, voters in the middle are wondering where to go. This is especially so for the half of the country that doesn’t like Brexit.

The former Conservative prime minister Major, appearing by video link, told rallygoers Friday night that leaving the E.U. was the “worst foreign policy decision in my lifetime.” Brexit would make Britain “poorer and weaker,” he said, and risked breaking up the United Kingdom, as Northern Ireland and Scotland wandered off over time.

If given the chance, Major said, he’d cast a ballot for ex-Conservatives such as David Gauke, who was kicked out of the party with 20 other “Tory Rebels” by Johnson in September over their resistance to his Brexit plans.
…snip
The former Conservative prime minister Major, appearing by video link, told rallygoers Friday night that leaving the E.U. was the “worst foreign policy decision in my lifetime.” Brexit would make Britain “poorer and weaker,” he said, and risked breaking up the United Kingdom, as Northern Ireland and Scotland wandered off over time.

If given the chance, Major said, he’d cast a ballot for ex-Conservatives such as David Gauke, who was kicked out of the party with 20 other “Tory Rebels” by Johnson in September over their resistance to his Brexit plans.

“None of them left the Conservative Party; the Conservative Party left them,” Major said. “Without such talent on its benches, parliament will be the poorer, which is why — if I were resident in any one of their constituencies — they would have my vote.”

December 10, 2019

L'tat, c'est moi is nowhere in the founding documents.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/america-the-hot-mess/ar-BBXQweJ
The New York Times
America the Hot Mess

Timothy Egan
12/7/19
…snip
Yet, if you look again — through obfuscations foreign and domestic, beyond the noise of the social media mob — you find a durable past that may just save us yet. The big story of the American experiment, a nation that is not an ethnic, racial or religious state but an idea, is not dead. It’s not even past.

For starters, despite a presidential policy sourced from the sewers of white supremacy, a nation of immigrants has not turned against immigrants. The consensus, though battered, is intact: About 60 percent of Americans say openness to outsiders is essential to our identity. The majority says immigrants strengthen the country.

Twice before, this animating idea has been under deadly assault. In the 1850s, as waves of ravaged Irish refugees washed up on our shores, the Know Nothing Party rose to keep them from becoming citizens. The huddled masses were too dirty, too criminal, too foreign, too loud, too clannish, too Catholic.
Lincoln despised the Know Nothings; his rise helped lead to their demise.
…snip
Today, there is no external enemy to unite us — not the British Crown, Nazi Germany or a Communist Soviet Union. For much of the world, and more than half of the United States, Trump is the uniter — the repellent-in-chief. As we saw again this week in Europe, the president is a laughingstock, mocked for his buffoonery, ignorance and bluster. In just a few days abroad, he made 21 false statements, a microcosm of his presidency.

At home, he wages war on American institutions: the military, the courts, Congress, the press, respect for truth, the Constitution itself. But he also faces certain impeachment, because what he did warrants no other choice. Though he most likely won’t be removed, a majority of Americans say he has committed an impeachable offense. He will be forever remembered for the gross violations of his oath.
We should be loud and proud with this to the rest of the world: L’état, c’est moi is nowhere in the founding documents. That’s another story America can yet tell.