Alex Massie

Alex Massie

Monday

Alex Massie

Legislation is the Real Enemy of the People

From our UK edition

There's no stopping this blogging thing. The latest citadel to fall is, of all places, the dear old House of Lords. Hence Lords of the Blog which officially launched today. With any luck it will capture something of the upper House's eccentricity... Lord Lipsey makes half a fair point here, for instance: I am in favour of very radical reform of the Lords, its arcane and inefficient procedures, a statutory appointments commission, the end of hereditaries, the eviction of criminals and tax evaders and much more taking of evidence and less speechifying. The only reform to which I am wholly opposed is election.

Alex Massie

Quote of the Day | 17 March 2008

From our UK edition

From Alasdair Reid's inquest into Saturday's Roman debacle: Rome is not exactly short of statues, but they could raise another one this morning to Dan Parks, the Scotland fly-half, whose woeful performance virtually gifted Italy their win. The official statistics showed that Parks had made seven errors in the game, the most significant of which was that he emerged from the dressing room in the first place. Too true, too bleedin' true.

Alex Massie

McCartney DivorceSettlement

From our UK edition

Danny Finkelstein: Please accept that what I am about to write I do as someone who is a. A big fan of Paul McCartney and b. Entirely ignorant of divorce law. But I just have to ask - why does Heather Mills get £24 million for being married to McCartney for four years? I write as someone who a) Can't stand Paul McCartney or either of his wives and b) Is also entirely ignorant of divorce law. But... Isn't £24m pretty fair compensation for having endured Sir Paul McCartney for four years. It works out at £16, 427 a day which, as a per diem, seems quite reasonable... (Of course if you take the view that she is but a gold-digger, then McCartney can reflect that £24m to tell her where to hop-off is money well spent.

Sunday

Alex Massie

“The bonhomie of a high-school health teacher”

From our UK edition

Brilliant Ryan Lizza piece on Hillary in this week's New Yorker. Key paragraph: Unlike Hubert Humphrey, Al Smith, or even her husband, Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail has never been able to project the image of the happy warrior. There is now, and has always been, a certain joylessness in her bearing. She has been trying to make discipline a selling point since her first “listening tour” of New York State, in the months before she ran for the United States Senate—a device designed to portray tireless commitment to voters suspicious of her carpetbagging and celebrity. After landing in Columbus, the campaign entourage headed by motorcade to Zanesville, a town of about twenty-five thousand, sixty miles away, for what was billed as an economic “summit.

Alex Massie

Dick Holbrooke as Captain America?

From our UK edition

Dan Drezner's at a high-powered conference in Brussels from where he relates this interesting tidbit concerning Richard Holbrooke: I have it on good authority that, not only does the former UN ambassador believe that he'll be Secretary of State if either Clinton or Obama wins, he genjuinely thinks he'll have a comparable position if McCain wins.

Alex Massie

Presumption of Innocence? You’re Having a Laugh Mate…

From our UK edition

The most dismal aspect of this, shall we say, innovative proposal is that it is not in the least bit surprising. Equally, one ought not to be astonished when politicians proclaim it a perfectly capital notion. Primary school children should be eligible for the DNA database if they exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life, according to Britain's most senior police forensics expert. Gary Pugh, director of forensic sciences at Scotland Yard and the new DNA spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said a debate was needed on how far Britain should go in identifying potential offenders, given that some experts believe it is possible to identify future offending traits in children as young as five.

Alex Massie

Constantine’s XI

From our UK edition

You didn't think I'd forgotten did you? After Armstrong and Benaud we come, logically enough, to Chappell Constantine. [Updated after much dithering. To hell with  it, however, romance demands that Learie be skipper. Thanks to Sam G for reminding me of this.] THE C TEAM 1. Jimmy Cook (SA)2. George Challenor (WI)3. Greg Chappell (AUS) 4. Denis Compton (ENG)5. Martin Crowe (NZ)6. Colin Cowdrey (ENG)7. Jock Cameron (SA) (Wkt)8. Learie Constantine (WI) (Capt)9. Colin Croft (WI)10. Jack Cowie (NZ)11. Bhagwat Chandrasekhar (IND) This is, as you will notice, a less balanced side than those previously selected in this series. Also, I suspect, a less formidable one.

Saturday

Alex Massie

Hillary and Rwanda: A Study in Cynicism

From our UK edition

Annoyed though I am by Hillary's claim to have solved the Irish Question, it's nothing compared to her - how to put it? - revisionist claims about the Rwandan genocide. These are revolting. Hilzoy lays it all out here in a post* that's as enraging as it is sickening. The conclusion: I think it's a lot more likely that she either didn't advocate action on Rwanda at all, or did so only in passing. If so, this would have to be the definitive example of her attempt to claim responsibility for everything good that happened during her husband's presidency, while disavowing all responsibility for his mistakes. This was, in my opinion, the most shameful moment of the Clinton administration.

Alex Massie

Splitters!

From our UK edition

Highly entertaining developments from our old pals at Daily Kos. Seems the Clintonites are taking their ball home and boycotting the site. What larks! DailyKos is not the site it once was thanks to the abusive nature of certain members of our community. I’ve decided to go on "strike" and will refrain from posting here as long as the administrators allow the more disruptive members of our community to trash Hillary Clinton and distort her record without any fear of consequence or retribution.  I will not be posting at DailyKos effective immediately.

Alex Massie

Bah humbug

From our UK edition

Italy 23 Scotland 20 England 33 Ireland 10 Wales 29 France 12 What an utterly lousy afternoon. Six hours of TV, three games of rugby and scarcely an encouraging moment all day. Wait 'til next year, eh? Er, no, not really: we visit Paris and London next season. Wake me up in 2010.

Alex Massie

It’s his world, we just suffer in it

From our UK edition

LOL-Cats are so yesterday. The new sensation sweeping the British blogosphere is the LOL-Blair. No wonder, given the former Prime Minister's modest ambitions: After accepting a job as Middle East peace negotiator, a million dollar contract at JP Morgan, a high level role as a Rwanda advisor, a position on the Africa Progress Panel, an advisory position at Swiss insurer Zurich, a heavy-breathing flirtation with the idea of the EU presidency and an interfaith teaching position at Yale (which will be linked to the upcoming Tony Blair Faith Foundation),  Blair has today announced he will be leading an international team of global superheroes to produce a new global deal on climate change...

Friday

Alex Massie

Shamrockery: Hillary’s Travesty

From our UK edition

Lord knows there are plenty of reasons to be appalled by Hillary Clinton, but her claim to have been "instrumental" (I kid you not) in bringing "peace" to Northern Ireland is (for me) the single most enraging element of her campaign. Of course this is monstrous nonsense but, alas, it seems to be being treated with undue respect by the American media. Take for instance this remarkable exchange between Terry McAuliffe and a CNN anchor on March 4th: ROBERTS:What are those life experiences that she has that would make her more qualified? MCAULIFFE: Well, sure, John. First of all, being first lady, she traveled over 80 countries, met with world leaders. As you know, she worked on opening the borders in the Balkans. I was just at a huge event getting ready for St.

Alex Massie

Is Boris Johnson the Tory Party’s George W Bush?

From our UK edition

Ordinarily the useful rule is that the answer to any question asked in a headline is a resounding "No". ("Can Illegal Immigrant's Guinea Pigs Give You Cancer?" or "Was Princess Di Murdered by Cherie Blair's Gurkha Lover?" or "Is there a Secret EU Plot to Hang the Queen?") Still, there are times when the rule can be put aside... Hence - via Clive Davis - this eye-catching passage from David Aaronovitch's column on the London Mayoral race: The notion that a Boris administration will, as his website promises every few lines, subject London's finances and procedures to the most rigorous of scrutinies, is beyond parody. I was discussing this problem with a Conservative commentator the other day.

Alex Massie

If Holland is being “Islamicised” how can this happen?

From our UK edition

Lisa Schiffren at National Review: The famously tolerant Dutch, whose nation has the highest emigration of any European country as the native born flee the effects of multi-culturalism, Islamisation, and the after effects of legalizing everything, have come up with a new line to cross. Public sex in Amsterdam's city parks will now be legal. But only for gays. So, assuming Ms Schiffren's analysis of Dutch emigration is correct* (an unlikely proposition to be sure, but...) Holland is waving goodbye to racists and scolds. Would that we could all be so fortunate.

Alex Massie

Mamet reads Friedman: Obviously Can’t Write Anymore

From our UK edition

Marvellous stuff - to the point of self-parody- from the Guardian's Michael Billington: I am depressed to read that David Mamet has swung to the right. In an essay for the  Village Voice, Mamet claims he is no longer a "brain-dead liberal" and increasingly espouses a free-market philosophy and social conservatism. As a citizen, Mamet is free to do as he likes. What worries me is the effect on his talent of locking himself into a rigid ideological position. Surely shome mishtake? You mean the wong ideological position? Indeed so: I've always seen Mamet as an inordinately complex writer: one whose apparent tough-guy, Hemingway-esque stance conceals a sensitivity to social and sexual issues.

Alex Massie

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: SNP Sympathiser or Labour Agent?

From our UK edition

Crivvens. Whatever next? An apology for 1978? IRAN sought to ally itself with Scotland last night, praising Alex Salmond's administration for its anti-war stance and suggesting Tehran has more in common with Holyrood than Westminster. Rasoul Movahedian, the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, told The Scotsman that Scotland and Iran shared "similar views" on many issues, such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and nuclear non-proliferation. And he said there was "fertile ground" for a stronger relationship with the controversial government of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "I think that Iran and Scotland enjoy similar views on many regional and international topics and issues," he said.

Alex Massie

The First Global Political “Reality” TV Show

From our UK edition

The Politico's Ben Smith is an excellent reporter and blogger. Which makes this post rather rum: The global interest in the Clinton-Obama contest is really quite amazing. Marc Ambinder finds that they're talking about Jeremiah Wright on Peruvian TV. And I spent last night talking politics with a Latvian friend who displayed an alarming familiarity with the rules surrounding superdelegates. Well, yeah... Then again, perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. In my years in Washington I never ceased to be surprised by the frequency with which folk expressed surprise that people in lil' old Scotland might be interested in what was happening in US domestic politics. It was a curious sort of myopia.

Thursday

Alex Massie

Obama Fisks Clinton!

From our UK edition

At last! An amusing campaign memo. Ben Smith has the details of the Obama campaign's bloggish response to a ridiculous Clinton memo. It's all worth reading, but here are some fun bits: The path to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue goes through Pennsylvania so if Barack Obama can't win there, how will he win the general election? [Answer: I suppose by holding obviously Democratic states like California and New York, and beating McCain in swing states like Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Virginia and Wisconsin where Clinton lost to Obama by mostly crushing margins. But good question.]... But the Obama campaign has just announced that it is turning its attention away from Pennsylvania. [Huh?] This is not a strategy that can beat John McCain in November.

Alex Massie

The Foreign Journalist’s Path to Enlightenment

From our UK edition

As we all know, Americans' love affairs with God and guns baffle foreigners. In that respect this Reuters story is obviously not aimed at the wires' US clients. It's meant to be helpful and explanatory and is, therefore, a good thing. In fact it's a kind of journalistic rite-of-passage you need to pass through to demonstrate that, to some extent at least, you've moved beyond the cartoon stereotypes of America that editors - and many readers - love so much. Still, one can't help but smile at this sort of stuff (emphasis added): The American affinity for guns may puzzle foreigners who link high ownership rates and liberal gun ownership laws to the 84 gun deaths and 34 gun homicides that occur in the United States each day and wonder why gun control is not an issue in the U.S.