Further ramblings of a self-made pauper

I've gone off the increasingly barmy Lib Dems over the past few years, but in this instance they are spot on.



The Commons have voted on and passed a Private Member's Bill, the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill exempting themselves and Lords from the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. This is additional to the protection they already enjoy when speaking in the House, which provided they do not use "Unparliamentary Language", means they can say pretty much what they want about anybody or anything unsubstantiated or not.

As we slowly stumble into a centralised and increasingly authoritarian state, we should retain as much accountability from our representatives as we can. We should not let then forget who serves whom.

Thanks to lupercal for spotting and posting this in the first place. Stick it on your LJ or blog and get people to sign up.

Ptch. And me without my hat of ranting!

You always knew that you were in for a good episode of Star Trek in any of its incarnations, by looking at the cast list. The sillier the actors’ names, the better they would perform. Trek was always the prime example, but I found that it generally pays off in other shows or movies, too. It’s as if the more bizarre the name some poor sod had been landed with, the greater their motivation to make you identify with the character they were playing, rather than the actor’s name.

So, silly names equal success.

In the same way that the only way Doctor Who could only come back to the TV screens was when the fans grew up to become the decision-makers, it is good to see that Trek fans are beginning to use their new positions of influence and power to effect changes in politics, too. Of course, most Trek fans guided by Roddenberry’s utopian view gravitate to the traditional centre of mainstream politics, and then sit there squabbling over mutually contradictory policies before agreeing that they are all marvellous and adopting them wholesale. Welcome then, to the cognitively dissonant world of the Liberal Democratic Party. A party founded by four ex-Labour ministers who fell out of favour, and an existing party leader who looked at the 9 seats or so he had and thought that he could double it by merging with a bunch of high-profile deserters.

It’s a little early for the Silly Season to start in British politics, but ever hopeful of finding ways of enticing a little interest from a largely indifferent British public, we can always rely on the Liberal Democrats.

In the past two general elections under the leadership of Charlie (wee dram) Kennedy, they have steadily increased their representation in the House of Commons to the point where they are at their highest point since the 1920s, with 62 MPs. And then it transpires that Charlie (jus’ another wee dram) Kennedy is a recovering alcoholic, despite having denied having a drink problem until last week.

He isn’t he first person to deny he has a problem and he won’t be the last, and let’s face it, a drunk in charge of the Lib Dims is no great problem; it’s not as if he’s in charge of the country, or likely to be, or anything important like that.

Still, it has allowed the nerds of UK politics to flex their muscles and ensure that that he can no longer carry on as Lib Dim leader. Kennedy is not a good name for a political leader. It’s too ordinary on the one hand and too similar to an American dynasty on the other; and that’s a poor thing to have when half the fun of being a Lib Dim politician is to bash American politics and politicians.

Happily, what they lack in good sense (let’s get rid of our best leader for 80 years!) and prospects they more than make up for in silly names. And silly names equal success, let’s not forget.

The only MP to throw his hat into the ring so far in the leadership contest is Sir Menzies Campbell. Full marks there for being Christened after a newsagent chain, and stellar bonuses for revealing that your first name is pronounced Mingies.

Fantastic.

But there is another; one whose name is odd enough to guarantee an electoral success. The man to guarantee that the Lib Dims can win a landslide victory in 2009 or 2010, whenever the next general election may be: Lemsip Henpeck MP Lembit Opik MP.

And when you consider that in the Lords they have a chap called Lord Razzall, how can they go wrong.

Silly names are quality. Mark my words, they are on a roll. Gene Roddenberry would be proud.