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I can’t remember the last time I saw a politician come across so arrogant, patronising and condescending. What is this achieving? The questions asked there hold no relevance to resolving the problem. Scathing questions just formed and repeated in order to make a point that doesn’t need making. I think this next video proves this point:

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Why is the US government so busy attacking BP when they should really be thinking about the source of the issue? The last time I checked they were polluting more than any other country. Time to stop pointing the finger and start dealing with the problem I think.

On a side-note, how did that protestor manage to enter the room?

Not long ago Eric Pickles MP, Chairman of the Conservative Party, was a guest on the BBC show Question Time with Jonathan Dimbleby. Not surprisingly the issue of allowances was brought up by Jonathan and various members of the audience. I found this quite amusing:

Well, you get the idea. It was also mentioned by another MP on the panel that most MPs do not claim this allowance even if they are entitled to it, stating that the hours of Parliament have actually changed and the doors now close earlier, meaning that a second home is no longer necessary.

However, the press obviously caught wind of this a while ago and, as per usual, blew it completely out of proportion. Every day we’re hearing about this MP and that MP claiming when they’re not entitled, and some have resigned, and others repaid the debt. Of course, the press interviewed members of the Public and all they seem to think about is “are we going to get a refund in the way of lower taxes?” Do these people actually realise the sheer volume of money involved in taxes? Do they really think it’s going to make such a huge difference to them? It probably doesn’t amount to a penny per head. Another is likening it to petty fraud whereby members of the public may be imprisoned for tax avoidance, etc. the popular opinion in the press seems to be that the same should happen to MPs.

Anyway, the question I’m trying to portray is does this really matter in the great scheme of things? Politicians are usually there because they’re good at what they do, and they’ve proven it in their local constituencies. Is imprisoning them for this kind of petty issue really the right resolution? Seriously, compared to what’s going on in the UK country-wide, and worldwide, it really isn’t that big of a deal! There are much more important issues we should be tackling. I’m not really going to go into what I think here. I think it’s easy for people to realise there are far more unjust things going on that we need to be working on.

I’ll just leave you with this video of a BBC journalist who collared the genius of Stephen Fry and asked him about the whole ‘scandal.’

Honestly?  The Republican party scare me.  It would concern me if they won office.  I’m not going to pretend that I’ve read either party’s proposed policies and the like, but I’ve read quite a bit about them, watched interviews, watched the three debates, etc.  My main concern is Senator McCain’s attitude towards the matters at hand, and his answers to the questions asked in the debates would really worry me if he wins the election.  When asked a question his standard response seems to be an “I care about the people,” followed by a “Senator Obama did this wrong and said this,” and concluding with “and I know how to fix the problem.”  Now, I’m sorry, but that doesn’t answer any questions.  He’s also taking the “I’ll lower taxes” route as well, which we all know is bollocks because we all know lowering taxes is never the solution anyway.  And someone needs to tell him that buying debt doesn’t rid of debt.

Obama, on the other hand, at least gives some indication on how he intends to combat the issues at hand without the need to call on peoples’ sympathy.  By all accounts he plans to withdraw troops from Iraq fairly quickly.  To be honest, I’m not entirely sure this is the best idea, but I did (accidentally) attend a march in York against the Iraq war.  I never wanted to see troops sent there in the first place, but we’re there now.  I still don’t want troops there, but pulling out quickly would be foolish and probably quite dangerous.  McCain wants a gradual withdrawal of presence.  I suppose this is the only point on which we agree.  That said, we need to start looking at our home countries.

A few people have reminded me that I live in the UK, but I think that some people in the US need to remember that we sniff your arses – it does actually make sense for us to take an interest.

Anyway, I’m tired and I’m probably not making much sense so I’m going to carry on with my TV related multi-tasking.

[edit]

I have to admit it was a generous speech from John McCain.