How A Mensch Responds to the Press

In2minds

"Mistakes Were Made" but think it vastly preferable for them to cease criminalising the next generation of twenty somethings who're mainly interested in enjoying themselves.
----Agreed.

Greg

"Mensch" is a Yiddish word which roughly translates as "a good bloke".

Rory

Too right Alex.

If it is ok for Tory MP's to make mistakes, and not be arrested - then why should anyone else be arrested?

For sure, if she had been arrested, then she would never have been considered to be a Tory MP. The arrest and criminal record would really have ruined her life; the drugs clearly have not.

Vishal

Rory, it is "MPs", no MP's!! And please don't apply the label Tory MP right away - you are suggesting she was not arrested because she is/was a Tory MP. How silly.

Steve Jones

Greg - "Mensch" is actually a German word and means "human being".

starfish

You did not report the last line:

"Most importantly, I have not the slightest intention of being deterred from asking how far the culture of hacking and blagging extended in Fleet Street."

Not very salacious but one would have thought more newsworthy

Now who is/are 'David Jones Investigative Journalists?'

Peter expat

True, but Greg is right in that it does have the slightly different connotation when used in Yiddish.

Rory

Vishal - MP's / MPS - whatever *yawn* - get with the evolution of the english language.

And - no - I have not suggested she didnt get arrested just because she was a Tory MP.
I am merely saying that if it is ok for her to have done drugs, and for it not to effect her life chances (and the same goes for Cameron, Boris Johnson, Yvette Cooper, Francis Maude, the list goes on), then why should anyone else?

Fact - arrest someone - give them a criminal record: chances of getting to BE an MP (Tory or otherwise) equals ZERO. The drugs didnt hurt Mensch. Having a criminal record would have. Maybe you should answer that, rather than to pick me up on my punctuation.

and I'll go to bed at noon

@Steve Jones

Actually, it's both. Yiddish is mostly derived from German, so they share a lot of words, often with slightly different meanings or connotations.

Clear Memories

In2minds
July 29th, 2011 2:41pm (and all the other libertines with broadly the same message)

Drugs are illegal and ever likely to remain so for the simple fact they are bad for society and the individuals within society. And I am quite happy to have my personal drug of choice (alcohol) included in that broad statement.

Those who state it is OK in moderation are merely socially arrogant in that, whilst they accept others might have difficulties, they believe they are perfectly capable of handling the potential problems of drugs.

All drugs attract criminality (and that now clearly includes the legal drugs of alcohol and tobacco due to the disgracefully high tax levels), from the violence associated with production and distribution through to the anti-social thievery necessary to support habits.

The so-called war on drugs is currently a joke. We must decide what type of society we want and unless we are prepared to tolerate the levels of murder, violence and anti-social behaviour that currently exists, then serious steps are needed to stem the tide.

No society has ever taken the steps the libertines call for (ie scrap the laws and have a free-for-all) Those nations that have tried to limit the impact (ie Switzerland turning a blind eye in certain geographic areas and the Netherlands and their infamous cafes are now rowing back from the failed experiment.

Yes, we all do stupid things when we're young but surely the mark of maturity is seeking to prevent others making the same mistakes?

Nigel S

Steve Jones
July 29th, 2011 3:27pm

Mensch (Yiddish / German)

Well actually it's both of course. Haven't you ever watched a Woody Allen film?

Nick Wilson

@ Rory

It has nothing to do with evolution of English and much to do with ignorance. The words effect and affect have different meanings. You have used effect incorrectly - but it doesn't matter, because, like, you know what you mean and you are totally with the evolution of english right - yawn.

Andy Edmonds

Steve Jones is right; but it can also be used in the sense, like English, of saying someone has humanity, implying an empathetic personality.

Greg

I prefer my translation. Schmuck.

Terrible But True

Notwithstanding her answer (pretty on the mark), who the heck poses the question in such manner, pompous hack-wise or just the normal variety (sans tautological descriptors)?

Bet this person feels it was a line of enquiry well worth pursuing.

Jeremy Poynton

Greg - mensch does not imply male

mensch•es or mensch•en (mnshn) Informal
A person having admirable characteristics, such as fortitude and firmness of purpose:

Nick Wilson

Greg

Schmuck is a very rude Yiddish word. I think it translates as penis. Can this be what you meant?

Nick Wilde

Rory

Does it make it more of a FACT when you use lots of capital letters or was that just for those of us who are hard of hearing?

Arturo Bandini

Her husband is Metallica's manager? Cliff Bernstein? Are you sure?

I've seen Some Kind of Monster. As a marriage it seems as plausible as the Murdochs'.

Artful Dogger

She is née Bagshaw and married a chap called Mensch that's why she is called Louise Mensch and not Louise Bernstein...

Mr Mensch manages rock bands...

great answer to a completely pompous pious buttoned-up anal retentive question, what a knob!!

Ian Walker

Clear Memories

Drugs are harmful to individuals undoubtedly, but how much of the societal harm comes from the criminal association?

Drug addiction is a medical problem, and should be addressed through education and healthcare, not courts and prisons.

James

"Drugs are harmful to individuals undoubtedly"

Really? In what quantity and circumstances?

Frank MacGill

Louise Mensch's husband is Mr. Mensch. Are you shocked?

Aaron D Highside

What a boring blog.

Chris

James - in the quantity of 'too much', and in the circumstances of 'when they are.' Schmuck.

Jess The Dog

She told the truth, without the usual bullshit. Almost unheard of nowadays. And she's a Metallica in-law! \m/

A. MacAulay

Schmuck is a German word for jewellry or adornment and in Yiddish, with it's penchant for ironie it has come to mean, fool, idiot or similar.

With drugs in general, Parliament and the Law are probably years out of date and miles behind the times. It is the ignorance and hypocrisy of the our law makers that makes them so vulnerable to the blackmail of Red-Top Press. Ms. Mensch has made a small but valuable contribution to undermining the former and disarming the latter. Thanks to her!

Frank P

Jess The Dog

"She told the truth"

No, she politicked, which is never the truth. Would have been better to have ignored the prick.

Terry

@Clear Memories
"No society has ever taken the steps the libertines call for (ie scrap the laws and have a free-for-all)"

Erm, yes they have. Until prohibition increasingly introduced from the early 20th century onwards, there was a free for all. Cocaine was frequently added to wine as a 'pep me up', any adult who wanted to use drugs could do so legitimately.

Stuart Willard

Oh I see but in your opinion no right to change her mind on all aspects of it then. Of course it is precisely that attitude that allows scumbag hacks to attempt such blackmail.

Robinson

Seriously, wtf are you arguing about the meaning of Mensch for? Her maiden name is Bagshawe (I think). Mensch is her husband's name, that she took when she married him.

Yes... he's Jewish! ***shocking isn't it!***

A. MacAulay

Frank P. She talked herself into a corner, was threatened with exposure by an anonymous blackmailer, (which makes us believe that there's substance to her initial statement), and brassed it out. If she had "ignored the prick" she would have been poitically back-footed and her attempts at self-justification would have looked like admissions of guilt. This would have made lovely headlines in the Red Tops and would have compromised the integrity of the Select Commitee. Damage way beyond the insignificance of smoking dope 20 years ago.

So, she is a politician with talent and who was confronted with the choice between integrity or ignominious death and did us all the favour of doing the right thing. Be grateful!

I fshe had ignored this attempt to coerce or

A. MacAulay

Apologise for sentence fragment at the end which I oversaw and failed to delete.

Rory

Still nobody is prepared to say that people in their twenties should be criminalised, whilst it was ok for Boris Johnson, Francis Maude and Louise Mensch et al to use drugs and not be punished.

looks like we are making some progress then - the end to the war on drugs maybe closer than we think

TRW

Mrs Mensch's ambition is greater than her intellect. I suspect that her thirst for airtime and feminine attributes will result in her over-promotion. If the country is lucky she'll dig a hole for herself before she can do too much damage.