Public speaking - a case study

Via Boing Boing: Here's a test for you. How long can you watch this video for before you have to turn it off?

Culture wars update

As weathervanes go, it's worth following the moderate US Republican @davidfrum on Twitter for little gems like....

Just heard Glenn Beck describe Friedrich Nietzsche as a Marxist. [here]

Reading this post (not by Frum himself) on his site, it's possible to believe that the consolidation of the Tea Party right within the US Republicans is gradually driving them into a position of political irrelevance. My political contacts within the US are so sparse, I've got no idea if it's a reliable bit of analysis - but if it is, it's interesting.

Frum has also posted a link to the Heritage Foundation's 'Index of economic freedom'

I use the 'Best in the world index' tag on this blog to keep track of these different comparisons. This is one table on which I hope the UK will aim to move downwards.

Wobblies

Dewi's got a good post about The Wobblies up on Slugger. Go have a look - and as he says, be careful not to get sucked in.

Synchronicity

Just re-reading American Tabloid.

Then saw this Facebook poll.

Meet the opponents...

.... of US healthcare reform.

The poor and the ignorant go to jail, while the rich....

"Get caught, sister lady, with a nickel bag on your way to get your hair fixed and you'll do Big Ben, and Big Ben is time.

But the man who stole America will not do time."

It's quite sobering how a 1975 monologue about Watergate can still make you want to go out and start a riot even now.

What do I do now Joe?

Joe The Plumber is writing a book. He has a website. He's planning a blog...

"The other day, I was contacted by 72-year old man who pleaded with me to share his story with the media and politicians. He and his wife lost all of their savings in the stock market recently. They worked all their lives for this country and now they have nothing. Why? Because of corruption in Washington. That man asked me, “What do I do now Joe?”"

Well, for one thing, you can forget about blaming Washington and have a look at Wall St instead?

(Hat tip: Tim on Facebook)

Meanwhiles, who sucks the most? Gum-voting here:

(Via Dominic)

Too early to tell

It's too early to make much sense of Obama's victory. A few things though:

Firstly, this bit stood out from the victory speech. It's the sort of quote that you could expect in quite an enjoyable essay title - followed by the word 'discuss.'

"...tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.

For that is the true genius of America - that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow."

Secondly, John Bolton (a Republican) was on Newsnight earlier raising something - and I don't know if he's right here. He said that this is a few-point victory in the face of economic collapse, a fantastic fundraising campaign, a spectacularly unpopular President, the perceived failure in Iraq and so on. Bolton made the point that the next race in four years time is hardly one that Republicans should fear under the circumstances. Tom raises similar questions here.

For all of the 'historic victory' shtick, is he right? Or is this a watershed? Is it that Republican voters are meeting their maker while young voters turned out disproportionately highly for the Democrats? And is it the case that the tide of history is moving permanently (or for the foreseeable) away from the Republicans and that we only saw a first flowering of this last night?

It may all seem a bit of a flaky question to ask, but if you read Snowflake here, it's a question that has a great deal of significance for the debate - particularly around tax - in the UK. I'd suggest that a likely Democrat second term would be needed to cement the kind of shift that Snowflake is hoping for in the medium term?

Black flash?

As today is now officially the 'first black person to....' day, I've often wondered if someone was having me on when they told me that Gil Scott-Heron's dad played for Celtic and was called 'The Black Flash'.

I never wondered hard enough to check this out - until today. It's true, it seems (or as true as anything on Wikipedia is). Apart from the 'Black Flash' bit. Apparently it was 'Black Arrow.'

Here's Gil on the aftermath of an unhappier Presidential election. It's actually more precient today than it seemed a couple of months ago. That's precient. An obituary of the Reagan-Bush era - written before it really started.

Isn't it odd?

...the amount of people that I know that have plans to sit up and watch the US election results tonight? You know, getting beer in, Hula Hoops, Cheezy Wotsits, inviting people around to the house, that sort of thing?

Some of them aren't really interested in politics even. The sort of people that wouldn't be sure that they would even vote in this country.

I mean, I am interested in politics, but I'll be picking it all up ambiently, like any other news.

Nothing wrong with it, I suppose, but I just think it's quite strange.

An open and shut case

I've been away, so I've only just found a moment to post something I've been itching to say for days. And I know modesty should forbid me saying so, but the events of the past week have underlined just how important my odd obsession with direct vs representative democracy is, and how mistaken anyone who has downplayed this question has been.

This week, it has been demonstrated that politicians that are in more contested seats have voted differently to those that aren't. They have, effectively, allowed themselves to be mandated on a massive issue.

There is a world, somewhere, where it's possible to argue that liberal democracies will benefit from the stalling of US Congress earlier this week, but I really don't understand it's inhabitants at all. I understand those from the left who don't mind watching capitalism come crashing about our ears. I also, despairingly, understand that there is a libertarian perspective that says that all we need is even more medicine. But I don't think that most of the voters who have been jamming the switchboards of Congressmen are from either camp.

Politicians who have allowed themselves to be mandated by their voters have made a decision that they know to be damaging and wrong. Unless the principle of representative democracy can be widely sold and re-established (and it's on the wane over here as well), we have seen that this democratic failing has the potential to seriously damage - and perhaps, ultimately to destroy - liberal democracy.

The US has - demonstrably - more of a direct democracy than anywhere in the EU. Politicians are routinely stalked and triangulated by single issue pressure groups, and voters can have no confidence that their representatives are adding anything to the quality of public governance.

No wonder no-one trust their politicians.

Anthony has offered a much milder view than mine here - but he illustrates just how impoverished the understanding of the word 'democracy' is - even on a site like OpenDemocracy.

So. Advocates of a more direct democracy within our current framework, and advocates of Thatcherism: Both proved to be utterly stupidly wrong in the space of a couple of weeks!

The Great Schlep

Everyone apart from me (until now), it seems, has heard of Sarah Silverman.

Here she is.


The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

(hat tip: Faisal)

Class and US politics

Nothing much here for the time being (bit busy), but there are two good posts about the US presidential race.

Firstly, here’s Shuggy on class, prejudice and ‘culture wars’ (“it’s the economy, stupid”).

And secondly, Snowflake 5 has a really good post that re-casts the US elections in an interesting way. I’m not sure yet whether I agree with his line, but it’s really well written and worth thinking about.

In summary....

• Mrs Palin has recast the whole race.
• She represents what America really is while Obama represents what it aspires to be

I particularly like his point about the Democrat ‘gender solidarity’ (and the lack of it in Palin’s house).

Also, his observation on how American blue-bloods present themselves. As Freemania implies, the small-r ‘republican’ nature of the US. I’ve often used the word ‘aristocratic’ quite approvingly as a way of characterising European representative government – and Freemania’s administrator / figurehead divide in the US illustrates why it is a good bit more problematic across the pond.

It also begs the question: Who is the most stupid? Dubya? Or someone who thinks that Dubya is stupid?

I remember in the early-1990s. Westminster was full of smartarses who liked calling Blair ‘Bambi’. They spent the second half of the decade sleeping with one eye open.

So Snowflake’s post is a good answer to Platty’s question here.

Oh, did I mention? Apart from these few posts, I’m finding the American elections to be really tedious, and the kremlinology that is easy to find on a lot of political blogs tells you all you need to know about their UK-facing kremlinology.

But Snowflake is right: Mrs Palin has given it the universal interest of a soap opera for a while.

Update: More on the 'guys like me' problem here.

Campaign finance

$8.32 needed. Just re-reading though, I've seen this:

"Donations cannot be accepted from non-U.S. citizens."

(pointed to by Mat)

Bookies wrong?

Just browsing, it looks like Obama's Presidency is being cast as a near-certainty now.

Am I the only one that thinks that McCain at 5/2 today is a very good price?

Bookmark that link. I forecast a steady shortening. Admittedly, I've been wrong before....

Unsustainable foreign correspondents

Further to the unsustainability of local media, there's this as a counterpoint: US newspapers turn their back on the world.

Oh, and BBC locals are struggling as well....

Realignment

This post on a realignment of book-buyers is worth a look.

If you missed the news yesterday

It's not easy to ignore the US presidential primaries, even if you want to, though I've done OK so far.

But yesterday - even if it is only to be remembered as a fine bit of oratory - Barack Obama gave a mighty fine speech of the kind that we rarely hear from politicians of any stripe these days.

Text and comments over at Freemania.

I don't know if it makes him the best prospective President either. But it as a piece of engagement, it was pretty impressive.