OUR VERY OWN QUISLING
Yesterday, as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, I watched a Norwegian movie called The King's Choice. It portrayed some of the behind the scenes events during three days in April 1940 when Hitler's Germany invaded and occupied the country. The government, and royal family, went into hiding.
In Oslo Vikdun Quisling, a name now synonymous with treachery, declared himself Prime Minister, despite having no support in the parliament. His political career was one of consistent failure, but he was head of the Norwegian fascist party which had links to the Nazis, and would go on to head the puppet government for the rest of the war.
Quisling branded himself a 'patriot', but was only interested in power and the chances it provided him to persecute those he saw as enemies of the state. Like the Nazis this list began with the Jewish people and moved on down through left wingers and any groups considered likely to oppose the regime.
Nothing remotely like that has happened in the UK. Quisling's equivalent back then, Oswald Moseley, never came close to power - but might have had the German invasion plans succeeded. Now the rise of neofascism in Europe and more widely makes one wonder if any similar situation could arise.
Most major European countries have had the sense to reject the far right, as recent elections in Holland and France have shown. So too in the UK, where ukip have faded as an electoral force. But in the US....
Trump is fascist in all but name, something clear from the political appointments he made on taking office. Fortunately the US constitution is a lot more robust than that of Weimar, and the country's democracy should survive in spite of the resident of the White House. But if it didn't....? A UK that had moved out of the protection of the EU would soon be in big economic trouble. You can just about imagine a Trump government suggesting they provide a bit of 'protection'. But they'd need a puppet in charge here.
Taking Quisling as the model, it doesn't take much to arrive at the obvious candidate. A far right leader, obsessed with patriotism and targeting minorities, with an unthinking cult following and close links to the fascists offering their protective umbrella. Niggle Fuhrage fits the bill in every way. That's our modern Quisling right there.
Monday 26 June 2017
Saturday 24 June 2017
Leadsom wants us all kept quiet
STOP POINTING OUT THAT WE'RE HOPELESS....
In a Tory government that's hardly brimming over with intellectual talent, Andrea Leadsom still manages to stand out. It's some achievement to be seen as the most stupid of all in a shower of dimwits. And it looks like she's determined on cementing that fully deserved reputation beyond all doubt.
Her latest 'brain'wave is telling broadcasters that when they report on anything to do with the ongoing farce to leave the EU they should be more 'patriotic'. A couple of quotes seem appropriate at this point....
“Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious”
― Oscar Wilde
“The greatest patriotism is to tell your country when it is behaving dishonorably, foolishly, viciously.”
― Julian Barnes, Flaubert's Parrot
It sounds like Leadsom wants the already supine BBC to become a bit more like the Currant Bun, Daily Fail and Desmond's ukip-propaganda shitrag. All of whom will print any lies about the EU, and the ongoing 'negotiations', if it suits their hard right ideology. So is this her speaking what there is of her ind, or official government policy? Is this a sign of a government now running so scared that it wants to suppress criticism?
Anyone paying attention knows that the EU team hold all the cards, and any end result will be determined from their position of far greater strength. And that the UK government, now fatally weakened after a botched general election, is looking more and more clueless as each day passes. One year on from from the madness of the referendum result the consequences are becoming more obvious, with food prices rising and the poorest in society, yet again, bearing the brunt. Minds are changing, except with those extremists who refuse to let go of their prejudices. The above-mentioned rags would never reflect that reality of course - and now the government want broadcasters to 'report' in the same way? Mushroom management.
That Barnes quote above is the most appropriate here. If you are going to serve your country then pointing out mistakes, questioning dubious decisions, exposing falsehoods are the most valuable contributions a free press can make.
There are calls for Leadsom to apologise. They don't go far enough. She should resign, and may needs to explicitly state that this approach is something she rejects. Except I suspect it's what she really wants. otherwise her desperate incompetence can't be contained for much longer.
In a Tory government that's hardly brimming over with intellectual talent, Andrea Leadsom still manages to stand out. It's some achievement to be seen as the most stupid of all in a shower of dimwits. And it looks like she's determined on cementing that fully deserved reputation beyond all doubt.
Her latest 'brain'wave is telling broadcasters that when they report on anything to do with the ongoing farce to leave the EU they should be more 'patriotic'. A couple of quotes seem appropriate at this point....
“Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious”
― Oscar Wilde
“The greatest patriotism is to tell your country when it is behaving dishonorably, foolishly, viciously.”
― Julian Barnes, Flaubert's Parrot
It sounds like Leadsom wants the already supine BBC to become a bit more like the Currant Bun, Daily Fail and Desmond's ukip-propaganda shitrag. All of whom will print any lies about the EU, and the ongoing 'negotiations', if it suits their hard right ideology. So is this her speaking what there is of her ind, or official government policy? Is this a sign of a government now running so scared that it wants to suppress criticism?
Anyone paying attention knows that the EU team hold all the cards, and any end result will be determined from their position of far greater strength. And that the UK government, now fatally weakened after a botched general election, is looking more and more clueless as each day passes. One year on from from the madness of the referendum result the consequences are becoming more obvious, with food prices rising and the poorest in society, yet again, bearing the brunt. Minds are changing, except with those extremists who refuse to let go of their prejudices. The above-mentioned rags would never reflect that reality of course - and now the government want broadcasters to 'report' in the same way? Mushroom management.
That Barnes quote above is the most appropriate here. If you are going to serve your country then pointing out mistakes, questioning dubious decisions, exposing falsehoods are the most valuable contributions a free press can make.
There are calls for Leadsom to apologise. They don't go far enough. She should resign, and may needs to explicitly state that this approach is something she rejects. Except I suspect it's what she really wants. otherwise her desperate incompetence can't be contained for much longer.
Don't roll out the red carpet please
I COULD DO THAT
The Edinburgh International Film Festival is now underway and I'm looking forward to spending much of the next week or so stuck inside a cinema. At time of writing I've only seen two so it's early days in the marathon, but it's already been enjoyable.
Watching movies as part of festival is a different experience to regular cinemagoing. You don't have to sit through endless ads and trailers, it's straight into the feature. The people who attend are generally a bit more passionate about their viewing, so you know you're going to be part of an attentive audience. And often there's the presence of directors and/or actors who've come along to see how audiences will react to their work.
Often there will be a Q&A session with some of those involved with the film directly after the screening. Sometimes best avoided if you have another film to see soon after. Sometimes best avoided because the speakers aren't always as riveting as they seem to think they are....
But by and large this is a plus. The greatest pleasure is watching the actors doing what they do best, what they are paid to do, and actually acting up there on the screen. Often it's interesting to hear what they have to say about the creation of their characters, the behind the scenes stories of what was involved in shooting some of the more difficult scenes, the development of the story. I saw Richard E Grant last night and he had a deep well of entertaining stories to tell. Later in the week I am genuinely looking forward to seeing and hearing Sheila Hancock.
But there's one aspect of this I just don't get at all. The red carpet. Fans, and photographers of course, stand for ages awaiting the arrival of a car. The actor gets out of the car, maybe waves a bit, and walks into the building.
I want to see them acting. I will often enjoy listening to them talking about acting. But do I really need to see how well they can walk from a car to a door? It's not like it's a special skill they have they can do better than anyone else. I could get to see that demonstrated at any office block of a morning. I mean, I could do that. Couldn't you?
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