Spectator Live

Sarah Palin Resigns! Madness!

Alex Massie — , 04 Jul 2009 23:09:40 GMT

Perhaps it's appropriate that Sarah Palin concluded her incoherent, rambling, puzzling resignation statement by quoting General Douglas MacArthur's absurd line that "We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction." After all, MacArthur was a a megalomaniac who believed black could be turned white merely by saying so. The General was a great showman, but a poor strategist who was fortunate to even be given a command, let alone permitted to hold on to it for as long as he did. Flair might be important, but it's not enough.

Palin's resignation certainly gives her time to spend in]]>

Overpaid bankers

, 03 Jul 2009 18:34:31 GMT

Robert Peston's lengthy blogpost is worth reading because it undercuts the argument that those inflated City salaries made economic sense. He also raises the question of how to revive the old-fashioned notion of moral hazard:

The problem is that no one can possibly any longer believe that there are any circumstances in which our government will let one of our biggest banks collapse. Which is an enormous comfort to the chief executive of a bank. It means he or she can do something spectacularly stupid, safe in the knowledge that taxpayers will bail out the bank as and when

]]>

Brown's U-turns analysed

James Forsyth — , 03 Jul 2009 18:28:58 GMT

Steve Richards’ column in today’s Independent - analysing Brown’s u-turns on the Post Office, 42 days and the abolition of 10p tax rate - is superb. As Steve notes, all these u-turns have in common the question of where does Brown stand in relation to Blairism; is he break from it or its continuation?

Steve’s conclusion sums this up brilliantly:

“The U-turns show that Brown has never acquired a clear voice of his own as Prime Minister and has failed to break away from his complicated past. Perhaps an early election

]]>

The week that was

, 03 Jul 2009 18:03:29 GMT

Here are some of the posts made over the past week on Spectator.co.uk:

Fraser Nelson reveals Ed Balls' lies, and outlines the scale of the debt crisis.

James Forsyth says a shadow Cabinet member needs to call Brown on his lies, and sets out the Tories' higher goal for education.

Peter Hoskin looks at how cuts can be advertised, and tracks the Government's approach on a spending review.

Martin Bright reveals how New Labour policy making works.

Clive Davis gives his take on the death of Michael Jackson.

Alex Massie has a]]>

One crisis after another

Fraser Nelson — , 03 Jul 2009 17:25:07 GMT

Many CoffeeHousers will give a horse laugh to the idea of “green shoots” – especially the idea of Gordon Brown winning a fourth term because a grateful nation will thank him for a recovered economy. It’s a delusion, nothing surer, and the same one Callaghan and Major suffered from. In both cases, there were firm signs of an economic recovery – but the electorate never forgave the government which landed them in the mire. But is Britain recovering? We’ve seen a few developments lately which, given the fun and games elsewhere, have gone unnoticed. So here’s a catchup.

Pick up]]>

Starstruck

, 03 Jul 2009 16:46:55 GMT

It has been a good couple of weeks for Kurt Weill fans. At the South Bank conductor Charles Hazlewood [right], the BBC Concert Orchestra and soloists led by Clive Rowe [left] gave a stirring performance of the composer's last Broadway show, "Lost in the Stars". Based on Alan Paton's novel, "Cry, The Beloved Country", the self-styled "musical tragedy" still seems astonishingly contemporary. The choral passages are just stunning. Hazlewood's staged reading, directed by Jude Kelly, was only on for two]]>

The candidates for cuts

Peter Hoskin — , 03 Jul 2009 16:20:43 GMT

Over at the Beeb website, Mark Easton flags up a new Ipsos MORI poll on public spending; you can view the whole thing here. There are plenty of eye-catching results in there. For instance, most people strongly agree that many public services are a waste of money and can be cut, while 40 percent of the public think that the Conservatives would be most effective party at getting good vaule for money from public services (compared to 25 percent for Labour). In particular, I think these two charts deserve attention:

]]>

Midget Wrestlers Murdered by Fake Hookers

Alex Massie — , 03 Jul 2009 15:37:16 GMT

I defy you to find a better story today. Sad, obviously for the tiny wrestlers and their fans, but pure, unadulterated, newspaper gold for everyone else. We need more details but, by the looks of it anyway, this has the potential to be the story of the year...

Two professional midget wrestlers have been found dead in a low-rent hotel room in Mexico City.

La Parkita (Little Death) and Espectrito Jr - in real life brothers Alberto and Alejandro Jiménez - had been entertaining two prostitutes on the night of their death.

Police beileve the women gave the

]]>

Documenting it

, 03 Jul 2009 15:02:57 GMT

Everything you ever wanted to know about sex researchers, but were afraid to ask... The NYT has a fascinating review of a biography of Masters & Johnson. I always used to think they were a kind of baby lotion:

Can the life of a man who spent most of the waking hours of his adult life either having sex, watching sex or talking sex be sad? The answer, as we see in Thomas Maier’s eye-opening “Masters of Sex” is a resounding yes.

Their most detailed experiments were conducted in their own bed:

Having stripped to

]]>

Faking it

, 03 Jul 2009 14:52:26 GMT

The New Statesman's boudoir guru, Ziauddin Sardar, provides a guide to Eastern aphrodisiacs and, um, pick-me-ups. As for the art of making men think they're hitting all the right spots, Elaine Benes will always remain the ultimate practitioner.

]]>

Another one for Miliband's collection of cock-ups

Peter Hoskin — , 03 Jul 2009 14:35:26 GMT

Great spot by Paul Waugh, who's got evidence of the latest Miliband cock-up over at his blog. Basically, Miliband told the Commons earlier this week that British aid to India would be decreased and eventually stopped because "India is becoming a richer country". But now he's had to sneak out a complete retraction, which even makes reference to India's "continuing levels of poverty":

"We have no plans to scale down the provision of aid to India, nor to stop the provision of aid by 2011. Our aid expenditure under current spending

]]>

A defence policy we can afford

, 03 Jul 2009 14:24:59 GMT

Max Hastings applauds the IPPR's "outstanding" new report on funding the armed forces. Time, he argues, to abandon plans for two new aircraft-carriers, and to review whether it really makes sense to upgrade Trident:

This is a view increasingly widely shared among strategic analysts, but still strongly resisted by both Tories and Labour. They fear political fallout from renouncing the nation’s “big willy” missile system.

]]>

All together now

, 03 Jul 2009 14:14:51 GMT

Personally, I quite like the idea of a prime minister who can't or won't join in on a rendition of "Old McDonald Had a Farm", but I don't suppose I'm the kind of audience that Gordon Brown's PR handlers had in mind when they set up the photo-opportunity.

]]>

Maziar Bahari and Press TV

, 03 Jul 2009 12:15:32 GMT

The latest outrage committed by the Iranian state broadcaster Press TV is its coverage of the arrest of film maker and journalist Maziar Bahari.

Maziar, a Canadian-Iranian, was arrested on June 21 and paraded on TV nine days later "confessing" to his role in a western plot to destabilise the Iranian regime. He had provided footage of the crackdown on protestors to Channel 4.

I am loathe to encourage readers to look at the Press TV site, so check out the story at The Spittoon, an excellent website opposed to clerical fascism. The author of the piece, "shikwa", concludes:

"How can anyone continue doubting]]>

Brown announces his agricultural policy

Peter Hoskin — , 03 Jul 2009 12:05:42 GMT

I think it's fair to say that the Dear Leader is out of his comfort zone here:

Hat-tip: Paul Waugh

]]>

Can Brown's inner circle be broken?

Peter Hoskin — , 03 Jul 2009 11:28:53 GMT

Given the speculation that's whirling around Westminster about plots to oust Brown in the autumn, it's worth noting this passage from Steve Richards' article for the latest New Statesman:

"The most significant change since the hopelessly disparate attempted coup last month is how the rest of the cabinet relate to Brown, Mandelson and Balls, the trio who are working closely together. Recently a friend asked one cabinet minister on the so-called Blairite wing whether he thought Mandelson would tell Brown that the game was up if polls suggested Labour was heading

]]>

Darling's position of strength

Peter Hoskin — , 03 Jul 2009 09:01:16 GMT

Interviewed in today's Indy, Alistair Darling's "get real" warning to the bankers seems to be grabbing the headlines - but his comments on public spending rather jumped out at me. After Peter Mandelson said that their wouldn't be a spending review before the next general election, there were rumblings that Darling was actually still thinking about a pre-election review. Here, he confirms that:

"Mr Darling insists the uncertain economic position means he cannot decide now whether to go ahead with the scheduled comprehensive spending review (CSR).

]]>

Notebook

, 03 Jul 2009 08:36:47 GMT

Her achievement, in spite of the praise from the Nazi press, was fitful and uneven, especially compared with what would come later. Except for Allgeier's opening sequence of Nuremberg awakening - also soon to be surpassed - "Victory of Faith" is technically unsure and exposes the rally as a messy amateurish affair rather than the demonstration of precision and efficiency it was meant to be. Discipline among the crowds was a chronic problem, marred by public drunkenness, smoking and nightly mass pilgrimages to Nuremberg's red-light district... The film is full of disordered milling about, and neither Leni's editing

]]>

Today vs Yesterday: Tour de France Special Edition

Alex Massie — , 03 Jul 2009 01:57:23 GMT

The Tour de France begins tomorrow and it will not surprise long-time readers that my main concern is that Lance Armstrong does not win it again. Like any sensible enthusiast I recognise Armstrong's greatness even if, as detailed here and here, I think that the Case for Armstrong is frequently overstated. Fairly or not, I've never warmed to him. This has nothing to do with him being an American since, if that were the case, it would be odd for me to admire* Greg LeMond so much. But I do admire LeMond hugely and, at the risk]]>

A Few Simple Questions for Alan Johnson

Alex Massie — , 03 Jul 2009 00:21:58 GMT

Home Secretary, is "identity theft" unknown in countries that already have identity cards?

If it isn't, then how will Britain's ID cards solve that problem? (A problem that is, in any case, vastly smaller than you claim.)

You now say that ID cards will be "voluntary". Doesn't that compromise their (putative) effectiveness?

And if the case for ID cards is so compelling - as you insist it remains - why has your government been backtracking on the matter?

You argue that you are "committed to delivering them more quickly to the people who will benefit]]>

He doesn't get it

, 03 Jul 2009 23:55:43 GMT

The American lawyer Alan Dershowitz is one of the most prolific, high-profile and indefatiguable defenders of Israel and the Jewish people against the tidal wave of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish feeling currently coursing through the west. So a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal giving expression to the rising anxiety being felt about Obama by American Jews naturally arouses great interest.

But just like the majority of American Jews, getting on for 80 per cent of whom voted for Obama, he is a Democrat supporter who is incapable]]>

What is Middle-Class Elitism? And What's Wrong With It?

Alex Massie — , 03 Jul 2009 23:30:49 GMT

The Guardian is a great* newspaper but also an uncommonly infuriating rag. Take, for instance, this paragraph in what was an otherwise unobjectionable article about Elizabeth David:

Now I should be quite clear from the outset that I've always been a little ambivalent about David. She famously moved food writing out of the dark didactic corners of domestic science and began to write beautifully and poetically about food as a sensual experience, but she also in her early career wrote unashamedly for the posh and focused attention away from British cuisine and on to Mediterranean food. I find

]]>

Pull the other one, it's got bells on it

, 02 Jul 2009 18:39:37 GMT

The Washington Post reports that newly released (redacted) transcripts of the FBI interrogation of Saddam Hussein in prison reveal that he said he had allowed the world to believe he had weapons of mass destruction because he was worried about appearing weak to Iran.

Hussein’s fear of Iran, which he said he considered a greater threat than the United States, featured prominently in the discussion about weapons of mass destruction. ...‘The threat from Iran was the major factor as to why he did not allow the return of

]]>

Debating in Iraq

Alex Massie — , 02 Jul 2009 18:08:05 GMT

The university debating circuit isn't quite what it once was. Once upon a time it was, if not a closed shop, a cosy cartel organised by Scottish, Irish and English universities with the Australians and the occasional American or Canadian providing whatever passed for international glamour. Changed times and these days English-speakers can lose to debaters from any number of other countries all of whom are trouncing you in a language that is not their own. Gone are the days when being beaten by Zagreb B ("If that's what they're like, I wouldn't want to come up against Zagreb A]]>

Standing by them

, 02 Jul 2009 17:44:44 GMT

Jon Bon Jovi gets the message across. [Thanks, Simon]

]]>

Things the Tories shouldn't do

James Forsyth — , 02 Jul 2009 17:40:23 GMT

It strikes me as being in both bad taste and politically foolish for Alan Duncan to suggest that Gordon Brown is “vandalising” the despatch box when he uses a thick pen to take notes during PMQs. It is bad taste because the reason Brown uses a thick, black felt-tip because he is blind in one eye and has poor sight in the other. Whatever one’s opinion of Brown, his eye problem is not something that should be mocked. It is politically foolish because one of the themes that Labour is trying to get into the national conversation is]]>

A meritocratic private school system

Theo Hobson — , 02 Jul 2009 16:25:46 GMT

Northern Ireland is trying to decommission its grammar schools. The case against selection is being made with the familiar vehemence: a system that allows an 11-year-old child to fail a test and be branded second-rate is retrograde. This seems to be the official line of all the main political parties in mainland Britain.

But none of them quite believes it. The problem with this line is that, if strictly adhered to, it would lead to the banning of private schools. For many middle-class children fail to get into the top private schools, and such]]>

Breaking: Osborne's expense claims to be investigated by Standards watchdog

Peter Hoskin — , 02 Jul 2009 15:07:48 GMT

The Washington Post's Humbug: Business as Usual in DC

Alex Massie — , 02 Jul 2009 14:58:03 GMT

Perhaps because hypocrisy and mendacity are such open and prominent features of the British press, no-one is terribly surprised when newspapers live down to everyone's expectations. Newspapers behaving badly is a dog bites man story. They do things differently in America where the Cult of Credentialism and an absurdly-inflated sense of their own importance has made most American papers nigh-on unreadable. The astonishing thing is that it took the public so long to realise this and abandon their worthy, inky morning muesli.

So, who can fail to be amused by the revelation that the Washington Post is whoring itself]]>

Iranian propaganda and terror

, 02 Jul 2009 14:57:00 GMT

I was delighted to have the opportunity to talk about the Iranian state channel Press TV on Newsnight last night (see footage below). Nick Ferrari has resigned as a presenter over the channel's coverage of recent events in Iran and I'm certain Andrew Gilligan will do the same. This dreadful channel should be allowed to wither through neglect by serious journalists.

Meanwhile I hear the Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari has been detained, of which more in later posts. The next stage of this terrible crisis seems to be the detention of dissidents and intellectuals.

Fellow journalists should do everything]]>